Nqvl:qstd:design: distributed-entanglement quantum sensing of chemical properties (DQS-CP)

The National Science Foundation awarded The Ohio State University a $1 million cooperative agreement on June 15, 2026, to develop a distributed-entanglement quantum sensing testbed capable of measuring molecular structure and dynamics at the single-molecule level. The award funds work under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084).

The testbed will harness quantum entanglement between qubits to achieve quantum advantage in solid-state quantum sensors for applications including materials characterization, in-situ device monitoring, and drug discovery. The project will coordinate between quantum research creators and end-user communities to develop a roadmap to quantum advantage and validate practical applications. The platform deconstructs the quantum sensor into modular units including a set of molecular targets and a spin-relay layer that couples to quantum ensembles.

The award supports workforce development through student mentorship in an interdisciplinary environment and hands-on training for end users from academia and industry. The testbed will develop curricular material in partnership with the QUSTeam Initiative to train the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers. Work is performed in Columbus, Ohio, with performance concluding May 31, 2028.

Abstract

The emergence of practical applications for quantum information science is being hailed as the second quantum revolution due to its potential to transform applications in computing, communications, and sensing. At the root of this revolution is the ability to harness the property of quantum entanglement between two or more quantum systems, or qubits, to push performance beyond the single-state quantum limit. This quantum testbed will work to realize this performance for solid-state quantum sensors capable of measuring molecular structure and dynamics at the single molecule level, validating quantum advantage in applications ranging from materials characterization, to in-situ device monitoring, to drug discovery. The testbed will coordinate between the quantum creator and end user communities to develop a roadmap to quantum advantage, aligning research activity with critical needs in science and industry. Students participating in the testbed will be mentored within a highly interdisciplinary and convergent environment, and the testbed will provide a platform for hands-on workforce training for end users from academia and industry. A roadmap to practical quantum advantage for quantum sensing will be developed and used to inform both research and the development and dissemination of curricular material that will lay the foundation for training the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers in partnership with the qusteam initiative. Specifically, the testbed is developing a platform for exploiting the entanglement of multi-qubit ensembles to achieve quantum advantage in the measurement of molecular and solid-state systems, including structural, electronic, and dynamic degrees of freedom. This platform allows for the modular deconstruction of the quantum sensor into three fundamental units: (1) a set of molecular targets, (2) a spin-relay layer that directly couples to both the target and readout, and (3) a readout qubit. The power of this modular approach can be seen in the fact that the spin-relay layer can be selectively driven into a metrologically relevant entangled state to enable sensing beyond the standard quantum limit (i.e., sensitivity scaling that surpasses sqrtn). Further, this modularity provides a framework for structuring collaboration and CO-design between stakeholders including end users, system manufacturers and quantum researchers across academia, government, and industry. This project is jointly funded by the NSF national quantum virtual laboratory program and the NSF directorate for biological sciences. This project advances the objectives of quantum information science and technology at NSF in response to the national quantum initiative act for the continued leadership of the united states in QIS and its technology applications. 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.- subawards are planned for this award.