EAGER: Quantum Manufacturing: Scalable Manufacturing of Molecular Qubit Arrays Using Self-assembled DNA

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In contrast to silicon-based materials commonly used for conventional computing and sensing devices, new materials are needed to similarly enable the low-cost, ubiquitous manufacturing and deployment of quantum sensing and computing systems for a variety of applications in health and diagnostics, autonomy and robotics, and other technological areas of major societal need. Toward this end, this EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) Quantum Manufacturing award supports nanotechnology research to control the 2D spatial positions and orientation of molecular “qubits” to fabricate multi-qubit systems and devices. Novel device readouts of these qubit networks will be manufactured and characterized with potential for integration into conventional and practical photonic circuit architectures. An interdisciplinary team of investigators from chemistry, biological engineering, and electrical engineering will be assembled to pursue this transformative approach towards scalable quantum device fabrication, which will shift how qubit manufacturing can be implemented at scale. The research will enhance US competitiveness in this growing global technology field. Innovative curriculum development related to this research will be pursued at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including mentoring high school students, women, and underrepresented minorities.Optically-addressable qubits provide a generalizable platform for quantum information science. However, the lack of precise spatial distribution of nanovacancy color-centers into qubit-networks has hindered their translation towards scalable, low-cost device fabrication. Recent progress in chemically-tailorable organometallic spin qubit systems show promise as an alternative, whereby chemical synthesis affords bottom-up qubit design and portability across different environments. However, these organometallic qubits require dilution in a host-matrix co-crystal for solid state implementation, yielding distributed color-center environments and density across a matrix that prevents controlled, scalable qubit-networking. As an alternative, single-molecule addressability of highly programmable DNA assemblies programmed using the principle of DNA origami will be leveraged together with chemically-tailorable organometallic qubits to realize a scalable manufacturing platform for spatially controlled qubits. Distinct organometallic color-centers using these DNA-based scaffolds will enable the integration of qubits into higher-order spatial networks to fabricate multi-qubit systems and devices. 2D DNA architectures will be patterned with nanoscale position and orientation onto device surfaces using programmable shape matching of the DNA structure to lithographically-patterned semiconductor layers. Quantum sensing of biological analytes with addressable proximity to the qubits on a DNA platform will be prototyped.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.