In November 2023, the Irish governments Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science released Quantum 2030: A National Quantum Technologies Strategy for Ireland, Putting Ireland in a Quantum Super Position. This document outlines Irelands quantum strategy and plans to become an internationally competitive hub for quantum technology and advancement by 2030.

Quantum has various potential applications in the medical, internet, security, finance, and other sectors. Because of this, many countries are throwing their hats into the ring to increase their quantum research, and both government and private investments fund the immense work that goes into this endeavour. Quantum 2030 is Irelands first official strategy to address quantum technologies.

This does not mean, however, that Ireland has had nothing to do with quantum until now. Indeed, Ireland has developed a multitude of quantum assets, talents, and support frameworks, including university courses and research centres such as C-QuEST at University College Dublin and Tyndall National Institute at University College Cork, as well as government funds such as the Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund, the National Advisory Forum for Quantum Technology, and the continued presence of large technology and quantum technology firms that are investing heavily in quantum.

Ireland is no stranger to quantum, and Quantum 2030 will only enhance that as it emphasises mechanisms for growing quantum talent. The quantum technology strategy can build on the expertise of two leading Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centres: IPIC Bringing Photonics to Life, led by Tyndall National Institute, and CONNECT for Future Networks and Communications, led by Trinity College Dublin. Combining photonics with optical communications and networking expertise, whilst challenging, will result in unique advantages for developing innovative quantum technologies and solutions in Ireland. All of this, combined with local and international industry collaboration, will ensure that Ireland has an ecosystem of quantum development that will drive innovation.

Quantum 2030 focuses on five pillars of quantum technology, with the first four being vital individual aspects of quantum development and the fifth enveloping the other four. These pillars are:

This pillar consists of heavily investing in new research in quantum computing technology. This will act as the core of the Quantum 2030 plan, as new and existing research projects receive funding to ensure that results are achieved, driving Irelands quantum value further.

Of course, to continue the development of quantum research, there needs to be the talent to fulfil those needs. While Ireland is already host to many excellent minds, both grassroots and from across the seas, Quantum 2030 will see further growth in these numbers and enhance inclusion, diversity, and equality in Irelands quantum field.

While Irelands strategy primarily concerns itself, there is much to be gained from looking globally. As such, Ireland will work more tightly knit as a country and work more closely with various other countries regarding investment and fostering talent.

This pillar seeks to bring together academics and enterprises to work more closely, to innovate and stimulate both research and economic opportunities from said opportunities. This will work across Ireland and in international collaborations.

Moreover, bringing quantum technology to more light within society. This will lead to further interest in quantum and ensure that the future of quantum research has the best possible chance of remaining healthy and increasing academic and economic strength.

There are many facets of quantum technology; in Ireland in particular, there is a great strength in quantum computing and communication. Quantum computing offers distinct advantages over traditional computing in certain aspects, as it can calculate many more outcomes much quicker than conventional computing. This is due to the quantum state of their codes. While traditional computing can only work through a calculation as a series of 1s and 0s, quantum can do this, as well as have each number be a 1 and a 0 simultaneously, known as a superposition. This will allow quantum computers to solve specific problems much faster and on a greater scale, offering obvious benefits in weather predictions, healthcare, AI, and finance.

Quantum communication concerns the security of the data being transferred and ultimately developing a quantum internet. This will bring quantum encryption, data assets, and enhanced defences against cyber-attacks. This has obvious advantages in data security, which itself affects many fields, from finance to research, security, and personal applications.

There is also quantum sensing, the current best possible method of sensing various things, such as time, gravity, position, or magnetic fields. This technologys development will benefit medical technology, atmospheric monitoring, and GPS systems, among other aspects.

Due to Irelands already well-developed quantum industry and knowledge base, the tools to continue developing are already present. Ireland is set to become a cornerstone in the international quantum industry.

As a part of the European Commissions EuroQCI programme, the IrelandQCI (Ireland Quantum Communication Infrastructure) project is underway to build a national quantum communication infrastructure for Ireland. Using both Irish governmental funding from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and EU funding (under the Digital Europe Programme), the 10m project seeks to upgrade conventional communications by integrating innovative and secure quantum devices and systems into traditional communication infrastructures.

The project will demonstrate quantum communications over ESB Telecoms and HEAnets communication networks by integrating innovative quantum technologies with classical networks. The knowledge gained from these demonstrations will be shared and ultimately help advance the countrys overall telecommunications sector and information security. There are several partners that are making this project a reality, led by Walton Institute at South East Technological University (SETU) in Waterford, the consortium includes Trinity College Dublin, University College Corks Tyndall National Institute, University College Dublin, Maynooth University, and the Irish Centre for High End Computing at University of Galway, all of which are members of CONNECT. HEAnet and ESB Telecoms are also key partners in the project, as the quantum communications network is being built across the dark fibre optic network of ESB Telecoms parallel to the existing HEAnet backbone between Dublin, Waterford, and Cork.

IrelandQCI is establishing an infrastructure for Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), a method of communication based on sharing encryption keys using quantum physics to boost security. QKDs will be distributed over the existing classical network, creating a quantum communication network which will significantly increase information security in Ireland.

Of leading the IrelandQCI project, the Director of Research at Walton Institute, SETU, Dr Deirdre Kilbane, said: Using the laws of quantum physics, we are creating a secure communication infrastructure that will benefit not only industry, academia and government, but wider Irish society. There are huge benefits to quantum networking in Ireland, for sectors such as healthcare, finance, and energy, all of which rely on knowing their data is secure. We are very proud to lead this ground-breaking project at Walton Institute at SETU, where our researchers are making a significant contribution to the growth and awareness of quantum technologies, positioning Ireland for future investment opportunities and collaboration on an international scale.

Director of CONNECT, TCD, Professor Dan Kilper said: By experimenting on the transmission of quantum signals on a public network between Dublin and Cork, IrelandQCI is laying the groundwork so that Ireland will be ready for the quantum Internet.

Managing Director of ESB Telecoms, Mr John Regan, said: In the ever-evolving telecommunication landscape, the emergence of quantum technology marks a pivotal evolutionary moment. As part of the IrelandQCI consortium, ESB Telecoms is proud to be at the forefront of this revolution. Our expertise in delivering high availability, low latency networks, positions us as a key player in building the quantum future. Leveraging our robust fibre infrastructure, we are poised to lead the charge in providing quantum-ready networks, ensuring resilient infrastructure for tomorrows demands. This collaboration reflects our unwavering commitment to innovation and our relentless pursuit of excellence in service delivery. It resonates with our vision of The Future. Connected, where connectivity is seamless, secure, and drives positive societal change through innovation and growth.

Director of PIXAPP, IPIC, Tyndall National Institute, Professor Peter OBrien, said: At Tyndall National Institute, we are currently installing a state-of-the-art micro-optical 3D printer capable of producing extremely complex optical structures with sub-micron precision. The new 3D printer is manufactured by Vanguard Automation in Germany and is being installed in Tyndalls photonics packaging and system integration facility. The new equipment will reduce optical power coupling losses in quantum photonic devices and the 3D printed micro-structures are capable of withstanding cryogenic temperatures, delivering the extremely high operating efficiencies required for quantum applications.

Innovation and R&D Manager HEAnet, Mr Eoin Kenny, said: HEAnet takes pride in its role as the networks operations centre for the IrelandQCI network. By constructing and operating a dedicated quantum communications research infrastructure, we are not only learning how to build and operate such a network but also providing the Irish research and education community with unprecedented access to cutting-edge quantum communications technologies. Our initial demonstrations focus on the exchange of security keys, employing the principles of quantum mechanics to guarantee interference-free communication. Securely transmitting keys across this quantum communications network marks the first stride towards our ultimate ambition the establishment of a quantum Internet.

Many of these partners are a part of other quantum projects, such as Trinity College Dublins SFI CoQREATE (Convergent Quantum REsearch Alliance in Telecommunications) project, an international collaboration working towards developing a quantum internet. This sees an alliance between the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the US. A quantum internet will provide enhanced interconnectivity between quantum computers, linking them for even greater computational power and laying the foundation for future quantum communications. There is also Tyndall National Institutes participation in the Quantum Flagship Initiative, via the Quantum Secure Networks Partnership (QSNP), which is dedicated to bringing new quantum technologies to the market. This initiative was established by the European Commission in 2018 with a budget of 1bn and a decades duration. Tyndall National Institutes participation sees work on advanced packaging solutions.

Collectively, these three projects intend to drive development in quantum technologies by combining the efforts of policy makers, academics, research institutes, and more. The goals are to create advanced quantum technology for quantum secure communication networks, to integrate quantum cryptography technology to telecommunication systems at all levels, and to take all the newly developed skills and technology and deliver them to European technology, such as government level systems, raising awareness and educating key stakeholders in the process.

The future is bright for Irelands quantum landscape.

For more on the IrelandQCI project visit: http://www.irelandqci.ie

This project has received funding from the European Unions DIGITAL Europe Programme under grant agreement No 101091520

Please note, this article will also appear in the seventeenth edition of ourquarterly publication.

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The advancement of quantum technology in Ireland - Innovation News Network

Scientists are making progress in understanding the mysterious forces of the universe by measuring gravity on a microscopic level.

For centuries, experts have grappled with how gravity, first discovered by Isaac Newton, operates in the tiny quantum world. Even Albert Einstein was puzzled by quantum gravity, and his theory of general relativity suggested that there was no realistic experiment capable of revealing a quantum version of gravity.

The recent breakthrough in measuring gravity on a microscopic level could potentially unlock a whole new level of knowledge about the workings of the quantum world. Physicists at the University of Southampton have been able to detect a weak gravitational pull on a tiny particle using a new technique.

The experiment was published in the Science Advances journal and used levitating magnets to detect gravity on microscopic particles, which are small enough to border on the quantum realm. The results could help experts find the missing puzzle piece in our picture of reality.

For a century, scientists have tried and failed to understand how gravity and quantum mechanics work together, said lead author Tim Fuchs from the University of Southampton. Now we have successfully measured gravitational signals at the smallest mass ever recorded, it means we are one step closer to finally realizing how it works in tandem. From here, we will start scaling the source down using this technique until we reach the quantum world on both sides. By understanding quantum gravity, we could solve some of the mysteries of our universe like how it began, what happens inside black holes, or uniting all forces into one big theory.

The rules of the quantum realm are still not fully understood by science. However, particles and forces at a microscopic scale are believed to interact differently than regular-sized objects.

In this context, academics from the University of Southampton, in collaboration with scientists from Leiden University in the Netherlands and the Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies in Italy, conducted an experiment to detect gravity on microscopic particles. Their study was funded by the EU Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder grant (QuCoM).

It used a sophisticated setup involving superconducting devices known as traps, with magnetic fields, sensitive detectors, and advanced vibration isolation. The study measured a weak gravitational pull, just 30 attonewtons (aN), on a tiny particle 0.43 milligrams in size by levitating it in freezing temperatures a hundredth of a degree above absolute zero, which is about minus 273 degrees Celsius.

The results open the door for future experiments between even smaller objects and forces, said Professor of Physics Hendrik Ulbricht, also at the University of Southampton.

We are pushing the boundaries of science that could lead to new discoveries about gravity and the quantum world, he added. Our new technique that uses extremely cold temperatures and devices to isolate the vibration of the particle will likely prove the way forward for measuring quantum gravity. Unraveling these mysteries will help us unlock more secrets about the universes very fabric, from the tiniest particles to the grandest cosmic structures.

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Scientists measure gravity in the quantum world - Tech Explorist

Physicists are one step closer to the measurement of gravity at the quantum level, according to a team whose recent studies move us closer to understanding some of the most mysterious forces at work in our universe.

Gravity is the fundamental interaction that produces attraction between all the objects possessing mass in our universe. Although the weakest of the four fundamental interactions recognized by physicists, it is the one that most of us are familiar with, as we experience the effects of gravity virtually every moment of our lives.

However, due to its weakness, gravity has no significant influence when it comes to subatomic particles, and experts have long questioned how it works in the quantum realma conundrum that even baffled Albert Einstein, whose theory of general relativity argued that there are no experiments that could demonstrate a quantum version of gravity.

That is until now, as an international team of physicists says they have succeeded in developing a novel technique that allowed them to detect a weak gravitational pull on a microscopic particle, an achievement which they say may advance our progress toward unraveling a long-sought theory of quantum gravity.

In their experiment, the physicists were able to detect gravity on tiny particles near the boundaries of the quantum realm by employing superconducting devices called traps. During their experiment, they measured a weak pull from a microscopic particle by levitating it under extreme freezing conditions approaching absolute zero.

University of Southampton physicist Tim Fuchs said the achievement could help move us toward understanding our universe by revealing a missing puzzle piece in our current picture of reality.

For a century, scientists have tried and failed to understand how gravity and quantum mechanics work together, Fuchs said in a statement.

Now we have successfully measured gravitational signals at [the] smallest mass ever recorded, it means we are one step closer to finally realizing how it works in tandem, he added.

Fuchs said that his teams next objective is to attempt to reduce the scale of the source using the new technique so that it can be applied to the quantum world on both sides. This could help scientists to unravel some of the most pressing mysteries about our universe, including its origins, and whether there is indeed a grand theory that unites all the known forces.

Presently, quantum phenomena are still mysterious to physicists like Fuchs, since the behavior of particles at the microscopic scale is vastly different from how matter behaves at the normal scale we experience in our daily lives.

However, the new findings could enable future experiments involving even smaller objects.

Our new technique that uses extremely cold temperatures and devices to isolate vibration of the particle will likely prove the way forward for measuring quantum gravity, said Hendrik Ulbricht, a Professor of Physics at the University of Southampton.

Unravelling these mysteries will help us unlock more secrets about the universes very fabric, from the tiniest particles to the grandest cosmic structures.

The teams new study, Measuring gravity with milligram levitated masses, appeared in the February 23, 2024 edition of Science Advances.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email atmicah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work atmicahhanks.comand on X:@MicahHanks.

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Breakthrough in Quantum Measurement of Gravity Achieved Using Levitating Magnets - The Debrief

A radical superconducting qubit design promises to extend their runtime by addressing decoherence challenges in quantum computing.

A new qubit design based on superconductors could revolutionize quantum computing. By leveraging the distinct properties of single-atom-thick layers of materials, this new approach to superconducting circuits promises to significantly extend the runtime of a quantum computer, addressing a major challenge in the field.

This limitation on continuous operation time arises because the quantum state of a qubit the basic computing unit of a quantum computer can be easily destabilized due to interactions with its environment and other qubits. This destruction of the quantum state is called decoherence and leads to errors in computations.

Among the various types of qubits that scientists have created, including photons, trapped ions, and quantum dots, superconducting qubits are desirable because they can switch between different states in the shortest amount of time.

Their operation is based on the fact that, due to subtle quantum effects, the power of the electric current flowing through the superconductor can take discrete values, each corresponding to a state of 0 and/or 1 (or even larger values for some designs).

For superconducting qubits to work correctly, they require the presence of a gap in the superconducting circuit called a Josephson junction through which an electrical current flows through a quantum phenomenon called tunneling the passage of particles through a barrier that, according to the laws of classical physics, they should not be able to cross.

The problem is, the advantage of superconducting qubits in enhanced switching time comes at a cost: They are more susceptible to decoherence, which occurs in milliseconds, or even faster. To mitigate this issue, scientists typically resort to meticulous adjustments of circuit configurations and qubit placements with few net gains.

Addressing this challenge with a more radical approach, an international team of researchers proposed a novel Josephson junction design using two, single-atom-thick flakes of a superconducting copper-based material called a cuprate. They called their design flowermon.

In their study published in the Physical Review Letters, the team applied the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics to analyze the current flow through a Josephson junction and discovered that if the angle between the crystal lattices of two superconducting cuprate sheets is 45 degrees, the qubit exhibits more resilience to external disturbances compared to conventional designs based on materials like niobium and tantalum.

The flowermon modernizes the old idea of using unconventional superconductors for protected quantum circuits and combines it with new fabrication techniques and a new understanding of superconducting circuit coherence, Uri Vool, a physicist at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Germany, explained in a press release.

The teams calculations suggest that the noise reduction promised by their design could increase the qubits coherence time by orders of magnitude, thereby enhancing the continuous operation of quantum computers. However, they view their research as just the beginning, envisioning future endeavors to further optimize superconducting qubits based on their findings.

The idea behind the flowermon can be extended in several directions: Searching for different superconductors or junctions yielding similar effects, exploring the possibility to realize novel quantum devices based on the flowermon, said Valentina Brosco, a researcher at the Institute for Complex Systems Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche and Physics Department University of Rome. These devices would combine the benefits of quantum materials and coherent quantum circuits or using the flowermon or related design to investigate the physics of complex superconducting heterostructures.

This is only the first simple concrete example of utilizing the inherent properties of a material to make a new quantum device, and we hope to build on it and find additional examples, eventually establishing a field of research that combines complex material physics with quantum devices, Vool added.

Since the teams study was purely theoretical, even the simplest heterostructure-based qubit design they proposed requires experimental validation a step that is currently underway.

Experimentally, there is still quite a lot of work towards implementing this proposal, concluded Vool. We are currently fabricating and measuring hybrid superconducting circuits which integrate these van der Waals superconductors, and hope to utilize these circuits to better understand the material, and eventually design and measure protected hybrid superconducting circuits to make them into real useful devices.

Reference: Uri Vool, et al., Superconducting Qubit Based on Twisted Cuprate Van der Waals Heterostructures, Physical Review Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.017003

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Superconducting qubit promises breakthrough in quantum computing - Advanced Science News

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The fractional quantum Hall effect has generally been seen under very high magnetic fields, but MIT physicists have now observed it in simple graphene. In a five-layer graphene/ hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) moire superlattice, electrons (blue ball) interact with each other strongly and behave as if they are broken into fractional charges.

Credit: Sampson Wilcox, RLE

The electron is the basic unit of electricity, as it carries a single negative charge. This is what were taught in high school physics, and it is overwhelmingly the case in most materials in nature.

But in very special states of matter, electrons can splinter into fractions of their whole. This phenomenon, known as fractional charge, is exceedingly rare, and if it can be corralled and controlled, the exotic electronic state could help to build resilient, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

To date, this effect, known to physicists as the fractional quantum Hall effect, has been observed a handful of times, and mostly under very high, carefully maintained magnetic fields. Only recently have scientists seen the effect in a material that did not require such powerful magnetic manipulation.

Now, MIT physicists have observed the elusive fractional charge effect, this time in a simpler material: five layers of graphene an atom-thin layer of carbon that stems from graphite and common pencil lead. They report their results inNature.

They found that when five sheets of graphene are stacked like steps on a staircase, the resulting structure inherently provides just the right conditions for electrons to pass through as fractions of their total charge, with no need for any external magnetic field.

The results are the first evidence of the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect (the term anomalous refers to the absence of a magnetic field) in crystalline graphene, a material that physicists did not expect to exhibit this effect.

This five-layer graphene is a material system where many good surprises happen, says study author Long Ju, assistant professor of physics at MIT. Fractional charge is just so exotic, and now we can realize this effect with a much simpler system and without a magnetic field. That in itself is important for fundamental physics. And it could enable the possibility for a type of quantum computing that is more robust against perturbation.

Jus MIT co-authors are lead author Zhengguang Lu, Tonghang Han, Yuxuan Yao, Aidan Reddy, Jixiang Yang, Junseok Seo, and Liang Fu, along with Kenji Watanabe and Takashi Taniguchi at the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan.

A bizarre state

The fractional quantum Hall effect is an example of the weird phenomena that can arise when particles shift from behaving as individual units to acting together as a whole. This collective correlated behavior emerges in special states, for instance when electrons are slowed from their normally frenetic pace to a crawl that enables the particles to sense each other and interact. These interactions can produce rare electronic states, such as the seemingly unorthodox splitting of an electrons charge.

In 1982, scientists discovered the fractional quantum Hall effect in heterostructures of gallium arsenide,where a gas of electrons confined ina two-dimensional plane is placed under high magnetic fields. The discovery later won the group a Nobel Prize in Physics.

[The discovery] was a very big deal, because these unit charges interacting in a way to give something like fractional charge was very, very bizarre, Ju says. At the time, there were no theory predictions, and the experiments surprised everyone.

Those researchers achieved their groundbreaking results using magnetic fields to slow down the materials electrons enough for them to interact. The fields they worked with were about 10 times stronger than what typically powers an MRI machine.

In August 2023, scientists at the University of Washington reported the first evidence of fractional charge without a magnetic field. They observed this anomalous version of the effect, in a twisted semiconductor called molybdenum ditelluride. The group prepared the material in a specific configuration, which theorists predicted would give the material an inherent magnetic field, enough to encourage electrons to fractionalize without any external magnetic control.

The no magnets result opened a promising route to topological quantum computing a more secure form of quantum computing, in which the added ingredient of topology (a property that remains unchanged in the face of weak deformation or disturbance) gives a qubit added protection when carrying out a computation. This computation scheme is based on a combination of fractional quantum Hall effect and a superconductor. It used to be almost impossible to realize: One needs a strong magnetic field to get fractional charge, while the same magnetic field will usually kill the superconductor. In this case the fractional charges would serve as a qubit (the basic unit of a quantum computer).

Making steps

That same month, Ju and his team happened to also observe signs of anomalous fractional charge in graphene a material for which there had been no predictions for exhibiting such an effect.

Jus group has been exploring electronic behavior in graphene, which by itself has exhibited exceptional properties. Most recently, Jus group has looked into pentalayer graphene a structure of five graphene sheets, each stacked slightly off from the other, like steps on a staircase. Such pentalayer graphene structure is embedded in graphite and can be obtained by exfoliation using Scotch tape. When placed in a refrigerator at ultracold temperatures, the structures electrons slow to a crawl and interact in ways they normally wouldnt when whizzing around at higher temperatures.

In their new work, the researchers did some calculations and found that electrons might interact with each other even more strongly if the pentalayer structure were aligned with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) a material that has a similar atomic structure to that of graphene, but with slightly different dimensions. In combination, the two materials should produce a moir superlattice an intricate, scaffold-like atomic structure that could slow electrons down in ways that mimic a magnetic field.

We did these calculations, then thought, lets go for it, says Ju, who happened to install a new dilution refrigerator in his MIT lab last summer, which the team planned to use to cool materials down to ultralow temperatures, to study exotic electronic behavior.

The researchers fabricated two samples of the hybrid graphene structure by first exfoliating graphene layers from a block of graphite, then usingoptical tools to identify five-layered flakes in the steplike configuration. They then stamped the graphene flake onto an hBN flake and placed a second hBN flake over the graphene structure. Finally, they attached electrodes to the structure and placed it in the refrigerator, set to near absolute zero.

As they applied a current to the material and measured the voltage output, they started to see signatures of fractional charge, where the voltage equals the current multiplied by a fractional number and some fundamental physics constants.

The day we saw it, we didnt recognize it at first, says first author Lu. Then we started to shout as we realized, this was really big. It was a completely surprising moment.

This was probably the first serious samples we put in the new fridge, adds co-first author Han. Once we calmed down, we looked in detail to make sure that what we were seeing was real.

With further analysis, the team confirmed that the graphene structure indeed exhibited the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect. It is the first time the effect has been seen in graphene.

Graphene can also be a superconductor, Ju says. So, you could have two totally different effects in the same material, right next to each other. If you use graphene to talk to graphene, it avoids a lot of unwanted effects when bridging graphene with other materials.

For now, the group is continuing to explore multilayer graphene for other rare electronic states.

We are diving in to explore many fundamental physics ideas and applications, he says. We know there will be more to come.

This research is supported in part by the Sloan Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

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Written by Jennifer Chu, MIT News

Fractional Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Multilayer Graphene

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Electrons become fractions of themselves in graphene, study finds - EurekAlert