Nanoelectronic quantum signal processing

ARLINGTON, Va. – US military researchers needed enabling technologies for quantum nanoelectronic devices with increased performance and improved size, weight and power (SWaP). They found a solution with HRL Laboratories LLC in Malibu, California.

Officials at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Virginia, last week announced a $7.1 million contract with HRL Laboratories for the Synthetic Quantum Nanostructures (SynQuaNon) program.

HRL Laboratories and possibly other unnamed contractors will develop enabling technologies for synthetic quantum materials for quantum computing and develop improved superconducting nanoelectronic devices based on electronic composite materials.

Potential devices that could benefit from these types of materials include superconducting qubits, which operate at elevated temperatures and frequencies; high sensitivity and time resolution photon detectors and bolometers for sensing, imaging and communication; and quantum signal processing technologies for scalable computing, millimeter-wave communications, and quantum-enhanced sensing.

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Applications may include detection of weak magnetic fields; photon detection in wide areas of the electromagnetic spectrum; low noise signal processing; and efficient and fast classical and quantum computations.

HRL will develop and compare the capabilities of improved superconducting nanoelectronic devices based on artificially structured electronic metamaterials.

Although technological progress in superconductivity technologies is limited, their widespread use has been limited by the need for cryogenic cooling – often to temperatures below 1 degree Kelvin – DARPA researchers explain.

HRL experts will seek to demonstrate not only new ways to produce synthetic electronic materials for quantum information processing, but also to validate and compare the proposed materials with proof-of-concept quantum circuits or nanoelectronic device architectures that use the proposed materials.

The SynQuaNon program will produce proof-of-concept quantum nanoelectronic devices as test beds for material characterization and assess the compatibility of such materials within device architectures.

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The goal is to better understand promising materials for superconductor-based quantum technologies and to determine the suitability of these materials for exploiting, tuning or enhancing quantum effects in quantum devices.

HRL will focus on synthetic composites that include electronic nanostructures, Moiré materials and quantum heterostructures. The company’s experts will work to ensure that the proposed composite materials and devices are compatible with scalable production techniques.

SynQuaNon has a two-year first phase of demonstrating electronic composite materials. The two-year second phase will include device-scale tuning and performance improvements.

For more information, contact HRL Laboratories online at www.hrl.com or DARPA at www.darpa.mil.