CAREER: First Principles Design of Error-Corrected Solid-State Quantum Repeaters

量子力学使一系列新技术得以实现，这些技术天生就比经典技术更强大，从超精密传感器到安全通信再到量子计算。这些“量子技术”发展的核心是对用于存储和处理量子信息的材料和设备的需求。这个NSF职业计划的目标是绘制一种新的方法，通过理论驱动的发现固态量子系统，展示所需的性质，通过后续的实验和集成到设备架构中进行测试。这种方法将专门针对量子中继器的特定使用案例而开发，量子中继器是一种可以保存和处理量子信息并将其耦合到光子的设备，是大规模量子网络的重要组件。此外，为了推动量子科学和技术对社会的更广泛影响，这一职业计划将采取平行的方法，包括i)教育和以量子工程为重点的课程，ii)拓展计划，强调旨在招募和纳入STEM中代表性不足的群体到量子科学和技术领域的计划，iii)开放源码的量子模拟方法和计算，以及iv)与进入固态量子技术领域的行业合作伙伴和初创公司密切接触。本科生和研究生将在PI设计的新的量子工程课程中学习尖端计算方法、材料和器件的先进概念以及量子信息协议。虽然研究计划本质上是基础的，但向下一代固体量子技术和量子网络领域的大型行业合作伙伴和初创企业转化并对其产生影响是该计划的重点。与行业合作伙伴的互动还提供了一个机会，以培训当前的工程人员在量子科学和技术方面。技术描述和智力意义固态量子技术的一个核心要求是开发能够足够好地相干地存储和操纵量子态以进行纠错的物理系统。固体中的色心已经成为主要的候选系统，有望将孤立原子的良好相干特性与固态技术的可扩展性和稳定性结合起来。这个NSF职业计划的目标是绘制一种全新的方法，通过第一原理建模和发现固态量子系统，展示所需的性质，并通过后续实验、光谱学和设备级性能进行测试。这种方法将特别针对量子中继器的特定使用情况而开发：一种可以保存和处理量子信息并将其耦合到光子的设备。这些设备可以实现可扩展的量子计算机、网络和传感器，预计它们将成为未来技术创新的主要驱动力。该计划将攻克用于量子网络的固态量子技术中的关键问题：它将开发理论方法来定量建模和预测量子缺陷的性质；协议来表征复杂和相干耦合的固态量子系统；并将它们部署在实际的量子中继器节点中。例如，这项职业奖中的方法所利用的紧密发现循环将允许在材料中生成局部发射体阵列，预测局部和远程属性，例如发射体间相干寿命，对发射体的间距或布置进行微小调整，以及直接设计管理特定量子行为的结构-功能关系，这些结构-功能关系是实现量子发射体可扩展集成所需的。这种集成对固态量子技术至关重要，因为纠错、纠缠蒸馏和量子中继器多路复用将需要量子中继器中的额外量子比特。这一奖项反映了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。

Quantum mechanics enables a new range of technologies that are inherently more powerful than their classical counterparts, from ultraprecise sensors to secure communications to quantum computing. Central to the development of these “quantum technologies” is the need for materials and devices engineered to store and process quantum information. The goal of this NSF CAREER program is to chart a new approach with theory-driven discovery of solid-state quantum systems that exhibit the required properties, tested by subsequent experiments and integration into device architectures. This approach will be developed in particular for the specific use case of a quantum repeater, a device that can hold and process quantum information and couple it to photons, and is an essential component of large-scale quantum networks. Further, to advance the broader impact of quantum science and technology to society, this CAREER program will pursue parallel approaches spanning i) Education and a Quantum Engineering-focused curriculum, ii) Outreach programs emphasizing programs designed to recruit and include underrepresented groups in STEM to the field of Quantum Science and Technology, iii) Quantum simulations methods and calculations made available open source and iv) a close engagement with industry partners and startups entering the area of solid-state quantum technologies. Undergraduate and graduate students will learn cutting-edge computational methods, advanced concepts in materials and devices and protocols for quantum information in the new “quantum engineering” courses designed by the PI. While the research plan is fundamental in nature, translation to and impact on large-scale industry partners and startups in the areas of next-generation solid quantum technologies and quantum networks is a focus in this program. Interactions with industry partners also provides an opportunity to train the current engineering workforce in quantum science and technology.Technical Description and Intellectual SignificanceA central requirement for solid-state quantum technologies is the development of physical systems that can coherently store and manipulate quantum states well enough for error correction. Color centers in solids have emerged as leading candidate systems, promising to combine the favorable coherence properties of isolated atoms with the scalability and stability of solid-state technologies. The goal of this NSF CAREER program is to chart an entirely new approach with first-principles modeling and discovery of solid-state quantum systems that exhibit the required properties, tested by subsequent experiments, spectroscopy and device-level performance. This approach will be developed in particular for the specific use case of a quantum repeater: a device that can hold and process quantum information and couple it to photons. These devices could enable scalable quantum computers, networks, and sensors, which are expected to be a dominant driving force for technological innovation in the future. This Program will overcome key problems in solid-state quantum technologies for quantum networks: it will develop theoretical methods to model and predict the properties of quantum defects quantitatively; protocols to characterize complex and coherently coupled solid-state quantum systems; and it will deploy them in practical quantum repeater nodes. The tight discovery loop availed by the approach in this CAREER award will allow, for instance, to generate a local array of emitters in a material, predict local and long-range properties such as inter-emitter coherence lifetimes, make minute adjustments to the spacing or arrangements of emitters, and engineer directly the structure-function relationships that govern specific quantum behaviors needed to enable scalable integration of quantum emitters. This integration is critical for solid-state quantum technologies as additional qubits in quantum repeaters will be needed for error correction, entanglement distillation, and quantum repeater multiplexing.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.