transform quantum
transform quantum

We're transforming quantum from vision to reality.

Join us in this evolution!

TransformQuantum is a community of engineers and scientists focussed on the challenge of translating the key ideas in quantum science and technology to physical realizations of quantum-enabled devices and systems.

With key players from theoretical, computational and experimental backgrounds, our focus areas are:

  • Collating and distributing information about quantum-relevant nanofabrication infrastructure and expertise
  • Formulating scalable designs for intermediate-scale and large-scale quantum computation
  • Developing theory and experimental methods for quantum communication over short- and medium-range networks
  • Investigating and implementing realistic methods for error detection, correction and mitigation
  • Developing materials science-based approaches for higher fidelity qubits and quantum information storage
  • Developing realistic roadmaps for quantum computation and quantum communication

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Events

TransformQuantum is planning to hold workshops with our U.S. and our international partners. These will be held by teleconference and will be designed to include European and Asia-based participants, with two- to three-hour sessions per day for three or four days. Sessions will include invited speakers and panel discussions, touching on aspects of nanofabrication, packaging, system design, integration of hybrid quantum systems, materials, and other topics.


Future events


Past events

2024 NSF workshop on quantum nanofabrication infrastructure

Supported by NSF through Accelnet's Global Quantum Leap:

NSF Workshop on Quantum Engineering Infrastructure II

March 3, 2024 at the University of Minnesota


NIMS - Research & training opportunity

Summer 2022: International Training and Research Experience (IRTE) in Quantum Materials & Devices
NIMS, Tsukuba, Japan


ML4Q - Research & training opportunity

Summer 2022: ML4Q Undergraduate Research Internship Program in Germany


2021 NSF workshop on quantum engineering infrastructure

Supported by NSF through AccelNet's Global Quantum Leap program:

NSF Workshop on Quantum Engineering Infrastructure

April 13-15, 2021 via Zoom

Read the final report (PDF) from this workshop.

A workshop on nanoscale acoustics, presented jointly by the AFOSR and UChicago:

Workshop on Nanoscale Acoustics in the Thermal and Quantum Regimes

March 24-26 2021, 10am-12:30pm CDT (UTC-6) via Zoom


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What's quantum?

Quantum mechanics, as far as we know, controls everything from sub-atomic particles to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Classical Newtonian mechanics is what quantum mechanics looks like at large size scales when quantum coherence is short-lived; the electrons in atoms are what quantum mechanics looks like at small size scales with long-lived quantum coherence.

A fundamental realization that emerged starting perhaps forty years ago is that in fact size does not matter for quantum; researchers have shown that quantum mechanics applies equally to large objects as well as small, where quantum effects have now been seen for objects containing billions of atoms, and only technical challenges have prevented extending this to even larger objects.

What distinguishes quantum from classical is the degree of quantum coherence, mentioned above, which is primarily determined by the strength of an object's interactions with its environment. The stronger those interactions, the less long-lived pure quantum states become, and the more classical that object's behavior becomes. A ball thrown up in the air interacts very strongly with its environment, first with the hand that held it then with the astronomical numbers of molecules in the air that are continually impinging on it. The internal structure of the ball is also extraordinarily complex; putting all the atoms that make up the ball in a coherent quantum state is beyond our current technical abilities. In principle however, this can be done: Scientists are currently not aware of a "size limit" for quantum.

What this means is that researchers are now developing larger and larger quantum systems, built from pieces that we can control individually at the quantum level, and whose interactions with the other pieces can be finely controlled, allowing the assembly of quantum coherent systems with more and more degrees of freedom. This is however a highly challenging process: For example, quantum systems controlled by electrical systems involve connecting wires from the "outside" into the quantum device; each wire however can increase the environmental coupling to the quantum system, and potentially interfere with that system's quantum behavior. The wires and their connections must therefore be carefully designed. More problematic, engineered quantum systems tend to include unwanted quantum systems (which may be atomic-scale) that can't be easily excluded or separately controlled, and can interfere with the programmed operations. Researchers are developing ways around these and other problems, but solutions involve very precise engineering designs, fabrication approaches beyond what has been attempted before, and environmental controls (such as extreme refrigeration) that have not been developed at these size scales. Materials, nanofabrication, packaging, and systems controls are just some aspects of this tremendously challenging engineering project.

TransformQuantum is directly involved in meeting all of these challenges.
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Our partners

TransformQuantum partners with a number of existing networks and other centers. Here are some of our active partnerships:

NNCI
National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure

One of the pillars of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) coordinates nanoscale science and engineering user facilities to provide a nationwide, robust infrastructure and toolset for all researchers who require these capabilities. Initially, the National Nanotechnology Facility at Cornell (1977-1993), followed by the National Nanotechnology Users Network (NNUN, 1993-2003), and then the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN, 2004-2015) have historically provided specialized nanotechnology resources to all researchers who needed them. The NNCI, established in 2015, is the latest version of this national resource.

GQL
Global Quantum Leap

The Global Quantum Leap (GQL) is an international "network-of-networks" linking nanofabrication technologies with quantum information sciences. The GQL brings together key nodes within the NSF-funded National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) and complementary networks in the US and across the globe working on quantum technologies.

Partner networks include:

  • ML4Q, the Matter and Light for Quantum Computing Cluster of Excellence, is funded within the Excellence Strategy by the German Research Foundation (DFG). It is a cooperation by the universities of Cologne, Aachen, and Bonn, as well as the Research Center Jülich.
  • OpenSuperQ aims at designing, building and operating a quantum information processing system of up to 100 qubits and making it available at a central site for external users. To maximise the impact of the project in the field, the OpenSuperQ team strives to establish close links with European and international research and industry players as technology partners and users.
  • Nanoplatform Japan is supported by the Nanotechnology Platform Japan (NTPJ) Program for the Open Advanced Facilities Initiative for Innovation under the sponsorship of the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and operated by National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). The motivation is to share the world's top level equipment which could not be obtained and kept by individual scientists at the laboratories in universities and industries. The share-use of high-grade analytical tools, ultra fine fabrication equipment and molecular synthesis apparatus is now promoting the information and scientific exchange through the face to face discussion, and results in the innovation in nanotechnology.
CQE
Chicago Quantum Exchange

The Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) is an intellectual hub and community of researchers with the common goal of advancing academic and industrial efforts in the science and engineering of quantum information across CQE members, partners, and our region. The hub aims to promote the exploration of quantum information technologies and the development of new applications. The CQE facilitates interactions between research groups of its member and partner institutions and provides an avenue for developing and fostering collaborations, joint projects, and information exchange.

Q-NEXT
Q-NEXT

Q-NEXT is a collaboration involving the world's leading minds from the national laboratories, universities and the private sector, is one of five National Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers awarded by the Department of Energy (DOE) in August 2020. It is funded by DOE at $115 million over the next five years. Additional funding from partner organizations totals $93 million. Advances in QIS have the potential to revolutionize information technologies, including quantum computing, quantum communications and quantum sensing.

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Our member institutions

TransformQuantum includes scientists and engineers from a broad range of academic institutions, industry and national laboratories:

AZ State

Arizona State University

Chalmers

Chalmers University of Technology

Cornell

Cornell University

GATech

Georgia Institute of Technology

Harvard

Harvard University

Julich

Jülich Research Center

Liousville

University of Louisville

Minnesota

University of Minnesota

MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MSU

Montana State University

NAU

Northern Arizona University

NC state

North Carolina State University

Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Northwestern

Northwestern University

Stanford

Stanford University

Syracuse

Syracuse University

UCSB

University of California - Santa Barbara

UCSD

University of California - San Diego

Penn

University of Pennsylvania

UT Austin

University of Texas - Austin

UWash

University of Washington

VTech

Virginia Institute of Technology

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