New funding set to accelerate Canada’s quantum industry capabilities
Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ research project gets a million dollars to improve quantum measurement tools
By Naomi Grosman
A research project led by Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) faculty Dr. David Cory, professor in the Department of Chemistry, has received $1 million to advance quantum metrological standards.
The project is jointly funded through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's Alliance Quantum grants and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Quantum Sensors Challenge Program (QSP), supporting the implementation of the (NQS). The strategy aims to address important challenges in quantum science, while supporting the development of quantum technologies including algorithms and encryption, communications, computing, materials and sensing. The project is a collaborative work between IQC, the NRC and Measurements International ltd.
Cory is working with IQC research associate Dr. George Nichols, IQC faculty Dr. Guo-Xing Miao, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Labanya Ghosh, postdoctoral fellow, and graduate student Yawen Peng at the University of Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ.
The project brings quantum experts in academia, industry and government together to develop quantum standards and measurement tools with the same performance as current ones but with much lower experimental overheads. Low temperatures and other requirements currently limit the tools’ use in national labs and specialist research centres. The goal of the project is to develop a new voltage standard with an uncertainty of less than 1 part per billion.
While the quantum industry is poised to be an early adopter of these new standards, the project’s advancements can have wide-ranging applications in telecommunications and nuclear industries, and other fields requiring high-precision measurements.
“Quantum metrological standards derive their precision from universal constants, giving them robustness and fidelity unachievable by classical devices. We are developing quantum voltage, mass and temperature measurement tools using advanced fabrication techniques and novel superconducting materials that operate at higher temperatures than existing quantum devices. By making quantum standards more widely accessible, this project will enable the ultra-precise measurements on which new quantum technologies rely, accelerating Canada’s growing quantum industry.”
-Â Dr. David Cory, Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureate and the principal investigator for the Canada First Research Excellence Fund in Transformative Quantum Technologies (TQT).
Dr. Richard Green, the National Research Council’s Principal Investigator on the project, working closely with NRC colleagues Dr. Ghislain Granger, Dr. David Castro, Dr. Waldemar Kuerten and Dr. Andrea Peruzzi will test and validate these new devices and act as early adopters for their use as measurement standards.
With the redefinition of the SI system of units in 2019, all measurable quantities can be tied to fundamental constants of nature accessible to anyone, anywhere. This project will lower the complexity barrier and accelerate the development of measurement instruments whose operating principles rely on these same constants and therefore by their nature provide intrinsically calibrated and perpetually stable measurements. With these new methods, we hope to begin to fulfill the promise of redefinition for mass, temperature and electrical measurement. The impacts could be significant, enabling long-term and reliable in-situ measurements in hazardous or inaccessible locations such as within nuclear reactors, or at distant satellite or in complex machinery. When such foundational technologies become more accessible, it is hard to predict all the areas that could be touched.
- Dr. Richard Green, Senior Research Officer in the NRC’s Metrology Research Centre.
Measurements International ltd., a Canadian company specializing in high accuracy electrical standards and measurement devices, has a long history of commercializing quantum resistance standards that are relied on around the world. They are a key partner within the collaboration and will develop custom electronics and software toward commercialization of new devices for target applications of the project.
The NQS, launched by the Government of Canada, aims to amplify Canada’s significant strengths in quantum research, grow its quantum-ready technologies, companies and talent and solidify Canada ’s global leadership in this area. Â
For more than two decades, IQC members across seven University of Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ departments have been world leaders in quantum research and this latest funding enables researchers to further support the NQS mandate.
The University of Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ acknowledges the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). This project is also supported by grants and contributions awarded through the Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program, which is administered by the NRC's National Program Office.
For more information on this research area, send an email to the Quantum Sensors Challenge program team at NRC.
Nouveau financement pour accélérer le développement des capacités quantiques du Canada
Un projet d’étude de Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ obtient un million de dollars pour amĂ©liorer les outils de mesure quantique
Par Naomi Grosman
Un projet d’étude dirigé par David Cory, professeur à l’Institut d’informatique quantique (IQC) et au Département de chimie, a reçu un million de dollars pour faire évoluer les normes métrologiques quantiques.
L’enveloppe a été conjointement décernée par le Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada, dans le cadre des subventions en quantique du programme Alliance, et le Conseil national de recherches du Canada dans le but de soutenir la mise en œuvre de la Stratégie quantique nationale (SQN). Cette stratégie vise à relever d’importants défis de la science quantique tout en appuyant la mise au point de technologies quantiques en matière d’algorithmes, de chiffrement, de communication, d’informatique, de matériaux et de détection.
M. Cory collabore avec George Nichols, Ph. D., associĂ© de recherche Ă l’IQC; Guo-Xing Miao, Ph. D., professeur au DĂ©partement de gĂ©nie Ă©lectrique et informatique de l’IQC; Labanya Ghosh, Ph. D., stagiaire postdoctorale; et Yawen Peng, Ă©tudiant au cycle supĂ©rieur Ă l’UniversitĂ© de Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ.
Le projet vise l’élaboration de normes quantiques et d’outils de mesure aussi efficaces que les actuels, mais beaucoup moins coûteux sur le plan expérimental. En effet, les contraintes des outils actuels, comme une basse température, limitent leur utilisation aux laboratoires nationaux et aux centres de recherche spécialisés.
Non seulement le milieu quantique est bien disposé à adopter rapidement les nouvelles normes, mais les aboutissements du projet peuvent donner lieu à un vaste éventail d’applications dans des secteurs qui ont besoin d’appareils de mesure très précis, comme les télécommunications et le nucléaire.
« Les normes métrologiques quantiques trouvent leur précision dans des constantes universelles qui leur confèrent une robustesse et une fidélité inatteignables par les appareils classiques. L’équipe met au point des outils quantiques qui mesurent la tension électrique, la masse et la température, en utilisant des techniques de fabrication avancées et de nouveaux matériaux supraconducteurs qui fonctionnent à des températures plus élevées que les appareils quantiques actuels. En créant des normes quantiques plus accessibles, le projet va rendre possibles les mesures ultraprécises dont dépendent les nouvelles technologies quantiques, ce qui va accélérer l’évolution du secteur quantique au Canada. »
- M. Cory, lauréat de la chaire d’excellence en recherche du Canada et chercheur principal pour le Fonds d’excellence en recherche Apogée Canada dans le cadre de l’initiative Transformative Quantum Technologies (TQT).
La SQN du gouvernement fédéral vise à amplifier les forces importantes du pays dans la recherche quantique, à propulser ses technologies, entreprises et talents prêts à évoluer dans l’univers quantique, et à renforcer le leadership du Canada dans le domaine.
Depuis plus de vingt ans, les membres de l’IQC, qui proviennent de sept dĂ©partements de l’UniversitĂ© de Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ, sont Ă l’avant-garde de la recherche en science quantique, et ce nouveau financement permettra aux chercheurs d’appuyer la mission de la SQN.