EAGER: Quantum Manufacturing: Developing a Deterministic, 3D Printer for Quantum Defects

基于量子现象的新设备，如量子计算机和网络，需要新的可靠和可扩展的制造方法，具有极高的精度。这些装置通常由离散的原子或纳米级结构组成，必须准确地放置在所需的位置。现有的制造这些设备的方法很耗时，与许多材料不兼容，缺乏原子精度，最重要的是，不可靠。因此，需要难以区分的纳米结构的接口网络的可扩展设备的生产是困难的。这一早期概念探索研究(AGERGE)量子制造奖支持基础研究，以开发一种坚固和可扩展的制造方法，将纳米材料纳入具有量子技术所需原子精度的设备中。这一新工艺实现了具有所需质量的纳米材料从溶液到精确位置的确定性打印，并具有完全的取向控制。这种方法将材料合成与器件制造分开，以提高性能，并使量子器件能够基于更精确的合成材料。这些能力不仅解决了量子设备的制造限制，也解决了基于纳米材料的能源、通信和医学应用的限制。因此，该奖项的进展通过在新兴量子技术市场建立制造专业知识、通过确保新一代传感器和网络的国防安全以及通过提高能源安全(化学催化和太阳能)而使美国经济和社会受益。这个多学科的研究项目融合了流体力学、模拟、光学设计和材料科学，为研究生和本科生提供独特的培训。将传播核心知识、模拟工具和设备设计，以便广泛采用制造方法来加快这些关键领域的研究和开发。量子技术的成功生产需要将高质量的量子比特纳入100纳米米区域。目前的制造方法是随机的，仅限于可以通过光刻处理的材料，而且往往缺乏这种精度。这种制造方法涉及一种通过热光作用力合成、表征和打印纳米结构量子比特的方法。分离这些工艺可以解除兼容性限制，实现确定性制造，并减少消相干的来源。该项目旨在通过评估第一性原理模拟确定的关键变量来实现100纳米米打印。这些包括纳米材料的光学性质，如它们的几何形状和折射率，以及胶体环境和力，如溶剂热物理参数。这些结果将被合并到一个基于物理的模型中，以优化打印精度。利用这种方法，研究团队旨在开发结构-属性关系，以确定增强的打印精度和材料属性如何影响设备行为，包括一致性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

New devices based on quantum phenomena, like quantum computers and networks, require new reliable and scalable manufacturing methods with extreme precision. These devices are often comprised of discrete atoms or nanoscale structures that must be exactly placed into desired locations. Existing methods to create these devices are time-consuming, incompatible with many materials, lack atomic precision, and, most significantly, are unreliable. As a result, scalable device production, which requires interfacing networks of indistinguishable nanostructures, is difficult. This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) Quantum Manufacturing award supports fundamental research to develop a robust and scalable manufacturing approach to incorporate nanomaterials into devices with the atomic precision required for quantum technologies. The new process enables the deterministic printing of nanomaterials with desired qualities from solutions into precise locations with full orientation control. This approach separates material synthesis from device manufacturing to improve performance and enables quantum devices based on more precisely synthesized materials. These capabilities address manufacturing limitations for not only quantum devices, but also energy, communication, and medicine applications based on nanomaterials. Thus, advances from this award benefit both the U.S. economy and society by establishing manufacturing expertise in the emerging quantum technologies market, by securing national defense in a new generation of sensors and networks, and by advancing energy security (chemical catalysis and solar). The multi-disciplinary research project incorporates fluid mechanics, simulations, optics design, and materials science to provide unique training for graduate and undergraduate students. The core knowledge, simulation tools, and equipment designs will be disseminated so that the manufacturing approach can be broadly adopted to accelerate research and development in these critical fields.The successful production of quantum technologies requires incorporating high-quality qubits into 100 nm3 regions. Current manufacturing approaches are stochastic, restricted to materials that can be processed by lithography, and often lack this precision. This manufacturing method involves an approach whereby nanostructured qubits are synthesized, characterized, and printed via thermo-optic forces. Separating these processes lifts compatibility restrictions, enables deterministic manufacturing, and mitigates sources of decoherence. This project aims to achieve 100 nm3 printing by assessing critical variables identified by first-principles simulations. These include nanomaterial optical properties, such as their geometry and refractive index, and the colloidal environment and forces, such as solvent thermophysical parameters. These results will be incorporated into a physics-based model to optimize printing precision. Leveraging this method, the research team aims to develop structure-property relationships to establish how enhanced printing precision and material properties influence device behavior, including coherence.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.