NSF Award
2403609
This IMPRESS-U project is jointly funded by NSF, National Science Center of Poland (NCN), US National Academy of Sciences, and Office of Naval Research Global (DoD). The research will be performed in a multilateral international partnership that unites Tulane University, University of Pittsburgh (US), Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (IFPAN, Poland), and B. Verkin Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering (ILTPE), Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute and Karazin Kharkiv National University (Ukraine). US portion of the collaborative effort will be co-funded by NSF OISE/OD, OIA/EPSCoR, MPS/PHY, MPS/DMR, and MPS/OSI.<br/><br/>Part 1: Non-technical description: <br/>This project will explore the potential of a materials family and combinations that are new to quantum information science, Pb and Sn chalcogenide semiconductors, coupled to superconductors, as a platform for the discovery of quantum dynamics phenomena in nanoscale devices. The international research team will investigate whether this materials platform unlocks the door to novel quantum dynamics regimes, bringing about opportunities for the discovery of new modalities of quantum control and towards improving quantum device performance. The international team of theoretical physicists, experimentalists and crystal growers will establish an effort to elaborate the materials, characterize them, build quantum devices and analyze and predict theoretically the novel quantum dynamics in these systems, by working in a single and coherent feedback loop process. Project members will engage in educational activities at two of the Kharkiv largest universities – Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute and Karazin Kharkiv National University. Cooperation with the fledgling quantum industry for technology transfer and workforce training will be explored; the team is in discussion with several global quantum computing companies.<br/><br/>Part 2: Technical description:<br/>The project will focus on materials such as PbTe, PbSe, SnTe and SnSe, as well as their ternary combinations (e.g. PbSnTe). Their potential for quantum science is in their unique properties: strong spin-orbit interaction, large Lande g-factors make them attractive for quantum control of the spin degree of freedom. High electron mobilities and efficient electrostatic gating are advantages for a host of quantum device types, in particular topological Majorana devices. The possibility to make contacts to superconductors such as Pb, Al, Sn, MoTe, is important for superconducting qubits. Beyond these, PbSe and PbTe possess an extraordinarily large dielectric constant which can be leveraged to enter new regimes – with quenched charging energy, opening new pathways for discovery of quantum dynamical effects. The team will organize a hybrid quantum seminar for bringing together the international community around the topic of quantum science. The project will also conduct a conference and a summer school to further integrate the Ukrainian researchers into the global efforts in the field. The team will create an online course on materials for quantum computing. Outreach to the local communities including high school and public is planned.<br/><br/>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.
