LEAP-HI: Manufacturing of Silicon-based Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Quantum Building Blocks

量子计算有望满足我们对更快、更节能的信息处理技术日益增长的需求。今天的量子计算机依赖于材料和结构，这些材料和结构既需要极其纯净，又需要在低温下运行，这种限制被称为“低温暴政”。这些限制使量子计算机的可扩展性受到质疑，进而使其管理现代社会产生的海量信息的潜力受到质疑。这个领先的美国繁荣、健康和基础设施工程(LEAP-HI)项目将研究有可能在室温下存储和光学访问量子信息的替代材料和结构。这种结构是基于集成了精心设计的有机分子的小型半导体(无机)纳米颗粒。该项目的主要成果将是(A)为这些有机-无机混合结构制定一套设计指南，以优化两个组件之间的光学和电子耦合，以及(B)为它们的制造开发战略，虽然这些战略是新颖的，但也可以固有地扩展到大批量生产。实现这些目标将使有机-无机混合结构成为下一代量子计算机的基本构件。一系列广泛的活动将纳入研究计划，包括接触社区大学、到首席调查员实验室实习以及与当地博物馆合作接触公众。这些活动将面向各级学生(从小学到社区大学)，特别关注代表人数不足的群体的学生，目标是鼓励他们攻读STEM高级学位。该项目以硅量子点为研究结构的无机成分。这一选择的动机是它们在丰富性和可持续性方面的优势，以及它们的加工科学仍处于初级阶段的事实，这使得这一领域做出关键贡献的时机已经成熟。该项目旨在实现对硅量子点与周围有机半导体基质之间的光电耦合的前所未有的控制。这将通过在硅颗粒表面接枝传递剂有机分子来实现，从而调节界面化学和两个系统组件之间的双向能量转移。新的气相处理方案将被开发出来，以生产硅量子点，并立即在其表面接枝多功能有机基团，为混合结构的生产提供一种快速和可扩展的方法。超快光谱将被用来阐明界面化学对有机-无机杂化结构的功能所起的作用。原子论模型将为这一研究提供理论基础和指导。研究人员是唯一有资格从事这一项目的人，因为他们汇集了硅量子点的合成、有机-无机界面的设计、混合系统的光物理表征以及界面效应的从头算建模方面的专业知识。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。

Quantum computing promises to address our growing need for faster and more energy efficient information processing technologies. Today quantum computers rely on materials and structures that need to be both extremely pure and operated at cryogenic temperatures, a limitation referred to as “the tyranny of low temperature”. These constraints put into question the scalability of quantum computers and, in turn, their potential to manage the sheer magnitude of information generated by modern-day society. This Leading Engineering for America's Prosperity, Health, and Infrastructure (LEAP-HI) project will investigate alternative materials and structures that have the potential to store and optically access quantum information at room temperature. The structures are based on small semiconductor (inorganic) nanoparticles integrated with carefully designed organic molecules. The main outcomes of this project will be (a) a set of design guidelines for these hybrid organic-inorganic structures that optimize the optical and electronic coupling between the two components, and (b) the development of strategies for their manufacturing that, while being novel, are also inherently scalable to large production volumes. Achieving these goals will allow establishing the hybrid organic-inorganic structures as the fundamental building block of the next generation of quantum computers. A broad array of activities including outreach to community colleges, internship into the principal investigator’s laboratories and outreach to the public in collaboration with local museums will be integrated into the research plan. These activities will target students at all levels (from grade school to community colleges), with particular attention towards students from underrepresented groups and the goal of encouraging them to pursue advanced degrees in STEM.This project is centered on silicon quantum dots as the inorganic component of the researched structure. This choice is motivated by their advantageous properties in terms of abundance and sustainability, and by the fact that their processing science is still in its infancy, making this field ripe for critical contributions. The project aims at achieving an unprecedented control over the optoelectronic coupling between silicon quantum dots and surrounding organic semiconducting matrices. This will be realized by grafting transmitter organic molecules onto the surface of the silicon particles, therefore tuning the interfacial chemistry and the bi-directional energy transfer between the two system components. Novel gas-phase processing schemes will be developed to produce silicon quantum dots and immediately graft their surfaces with multi-functional organic groups, providing a rapid and scalable approach to the production of the hybrid structures. Ultrafast spectroscopy will be used to elucidate the role played by interfacial chemistry on the functionality of the hybrid organic-inorganic structures. Atomistic modelling will provide theoretical foundation and guidance to this investigation. The investigators are uniquely qualified to undertake this project, as they bring together expertise in the synthesis of silicon quantum dots, the design of organic-inorganic interfaces, the photo-physical characterization of hybrid systems and the ab-initio modelling of interfacial effects.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.