Future "world capital" of quantum computing? A half-billion dollars is a good start.

This is a preview issue of Quantum Campus, sharing the latest in quantum science and technology from university campuses. We publish weekly and are always looking for news from researchers across the country. Want to see your work featured? Submit your ideas to the editor.

Half-billion to Chicago-based quantum efforts

More than a half-billion dollars are set to flow to Chicago, as the city has its sights set on becoming a “world capital” of quantum technology. The state of Illinois, DARPA, DOE, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and startups are all placing bets on its big shoulders.

DARPA has announced a $140 million proving facility, the state has pledged up to $500 million, and PsiQuantum plans to build the world’s largest quantum computer on the city’s South Side.

Read the details in Crain’s Chicago Business. 

Quantifying energy loss in qbits

Researchers from Yale and Brookhaven National Lab showed a new method for tracking how quantum devices lose energy and where it is being lost. Using a tripole stripline, they were able to discern surface loss from bulk dielectric loss in devices made with tantalum and aluminum. Results were published in Nature Communications, showing the impact that different materials and manufacturing techniques had on energy loss and qbit coherence.

“Researchers have been building devices with better coherence times. But there are so many different sources of energy loss, and we still couldn’t distinguish which ones were improving,” according to lead author Suhas Ganjam. “So, we set out to differentiate between the different types of loss.”

Read the details in Architecture & Governance.

New post-quantum cryptographic standards from feds

The White House unveiled a set of post-quantum cryptographic standards in August “to assure the safety and security of quantum computing for the nation and for our future.” Developed by NIST, they are designed for general data encryption on a system or shared across a network and for digital signatures used in identity authentication.

The standards include three encryption algorithms, the result of an eight-year effort. NIST also plans to select one or two backup standards by the end of 2024.

Read the details in NIST’s announcement.

$39 million from NSF to expand quantum research capacity across the country

NSF awarded grants to 23 projects as part of their Expanding Capacity in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (ExpandQISE) program. Focused on quantum computing, sensors, and materials, the program funds “partnerships between established QISE programs at research-intensive institutions and up-and-coming programs at institutions seeking to build their quantum research and development infrastructure.”

The largest grants, each worth up to $5 million over five years, went to:

• Florida A&M with University of Chicago, and Florida State University.

• Northern Arizona University with Yale, University of California Santa Barbara, and Sandia National Lab.

• South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with Montana State University and the MonArk Quantum Foundry.

• Bryn Mawr with Johns Hopkins, Colorado State, Penn, and Ursinus College.

A list of all the awards is available in NSF’s announcement.

Quickbits

• India's quantum scientists want industry to invest in research

• Germany plans to develop 100 qubit quantum computer by 2026

• NSF announces next round of Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes funding; LOI due February 7, 2025

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