FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0010.pdf

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT

OVERVIEW INFORMATION

FISCAL YEAR 2023

“Materials Characterization and Quantum Performance: Correlation and Causation (MQC)”

FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0010

FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE

19 JUN 2023, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

SPECIAL NOTE: The MQC program is a stand-alone opportunity. Applications must be ‘VALIDATED’ by Grants.gov by the application deadline, which can take up to 48 hours after successful submission. See Timely Receipt Requirements and Proof of Timely Submission.

INQUIRES AND QUESTION DEADLINE

14 APR 2023

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OVERVIEW INFORMATION

This is a special Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), which will hereafter generally referred to as “we, us, our, or AFOSR”.

AFOSR recognizes that future areas of research may not fall within its existing portfolio structure and has thus initiated the “Materials Characterization and Quantum Performance: Correlation and Causation (MQC)” Program, which is focused on the topic area of Material Science for Quantum Information Science.

AFOSR anticipates awards in the amount of $500,000 to $2,000,000 per year per award for a maximum of four (4) years. All awards are contingent on availability of funds.

Proposers are encouraged to confer with the designated AFOSR Program Officer(s) prior to submitting a full proposal. We will evaluate proposals using an internal review panel. AFOSR reserves the right to select and fund all, some, or none of the proposals from any of the topics below. AFOSR provides no funding for direct reimbursement of proposal development costs.

Technical and budget proposals (or any other material) submitted in response to this FOA will not be returned. It is the policy of AFOSR to treat all white papers and proposals submitted under this FOA as sensitive competitive information and to disclose their contents only for the purposes of evaluation.

White papers briefly summarizing the proposers’ ideas are highly encouraged but not required. Submit white papers to our whitepaper portal, which is linked below. The topic points of contact (POCs) will coordinate to provide feedback to white papers.

The proposals will need to include a data management plan, outlining how samples and data collected in the program will be stored and managed. This includes but is not restricted to issues such as: standards for data and metadata collection, content and format, data archiving, database management, and data sharing within, and outside the awardee and beyond the lifetime of the grant.

This precondition is modeled on the National Science Foundation Data Management Plan requirement (e.g., https://nsf.gov/eng/general/ENG_DMP_Policy.pdf).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Applicants should be alert for any amendments that may modify the announcement. Amendments to the original funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will be posted to the Grants.gov Webpage: https://www.grants.gov/.

https://nsf.gov/eng/general/ENG_DMP_Policy.pdf https://www.grants.gov/

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Hyperlinks have been embedded within this document and appear as underlined, and or blue-colored words in the midst of paragraphs. The reader may “jump” to the linked section within this document by “clicking” (CTRL + CLICK, or CLICK).

SUMMARY FUNDING OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION

1. FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY NAME

Air Force Office of Scientific Research 875 North Randolph Street, STE 325, Room 3112 Arlington, VA 22203

2. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE

Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 “Materials Characterization and Quantum Performance: Correlation and Causation (MQC)”

3. ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE

Initial Announcement

4. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER

FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0010

5. CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER

12.800 Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program

6. KEY DATES

Pre-proposal inquiries and questions must be received in writing by electronic mail to the address(es) listed under section G._AGENCY_CONTACTS of this FOA, not later than 14 APR 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time to be considered. The Government will respond to any pre-proposal inquiries or questions either directly or via public posting no later than COB on 21 APR 2023. The Program Officers that are involved in this FOA will be holding a Proposer’s Day session to answer questions in real-time and provide answers in real time. This Proposer’s Day will be held on 21 APR 2023.

Registration for this event is mandatory. In order to register for this Proposer’s Day, please visit the following link: https://afosr.gov1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3awUktj83b7PITc

White papers must be received by submitting to https://community.apan.org/wg/afosr/p/submitawhitepaper by 01 MAY 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time to be considered.

Government will respond on white paper determination on or before COB on 22 MAY 2023.

Proposals must be received electronically through Grants.gov by 19 JUN 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time to be considered.

We anticipate that we will notify proposers, via electronic mail, of selection or non-selection for award no later than 17 JULY 2023.

https://afosr.gov1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3awUktj83b7PITc https://community.apan.org/wg/afosr/p/submitawhitepaper

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT OVERVIEW INFORMATION

SUMMARY FUNDING OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION

2. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE

3. ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE

4. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER

5. CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER

6. KEY DATES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

1. SUMMARY

2. BACKGROUND AND FURTHER DETAILS

3. GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSALS

Proposal types:

Incubator (sub-loop) proposal requirements:

Full Loop proposal requirements:

4. FURTHER PROPOSAL GUIDANCE

5. TECHNICAL DETAILS OF PROPOSED RESEARCH

a. Access to DoD Resources

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

a. Qualified and Responsible United States & International Institutions

b. HBCU/MI, Tribal College and University Applicants Encouraged

c. University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs)

d. Ineligible Entities

2. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

3. OTHER

a. Acknowledgment of Support and Disclaimer Requirements

b. Expectation of Public Dissemination of Research Results

c. Conflict of Interest

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D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

2. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

a. Pre-proposal Inquiries and Questions

b. The Application as a Whole

A summary of what is required for a complete proposal is summarized below:

c. Proposal Format

d. Proposal Length

e. No Confidential or Proprietary Information

f. Electronic Form and Proposal Attachments

3. GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION SUBMISSION AND RECEIPT PROCEDURES

a. Electronic Delivery

b. How to Register to Apply through Grants.gov

4. COMPONENT PIECES OF THE APPLICATION

a. SF 424 (R&R) Application for Federal Assistance

b. SFLLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Form

c. R&R Other Project Information Form

d. R&R Publicly Releasable Project Summary / Abstract

e. Project Narrative

1) Statement of Objectives

2) Research Effort

3) Principal Investigator (PI) and Senior Personnel Time

4) Your Facilities

5) Government Furnished Equipment

6) High-Performance Computing Requirements

f. Bibliography and References Cited

g. R&R Senior / Key Person Profile Form

h. R&R Budget Form

i. R&R Sub award Budget Form

j. Budget Justification

k. R&R Project / Performance Site Locations Form

l. Data Management Plan (Required)

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m. R&R Personal Data Form

5. INFORMATION YOU MUST SUBMIT IF SELECTED FOR POSSIBLE AWARD

6. UNIQUE ENTITY IDENTIFIER (UEI), COMMERICIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY

(CAGE), AND SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM)

a. SAM Registration Required

b. SAM Exemption or Exceptions Not Available Under This Announcement

c. Questions about SAM Registrations and Updates

d. Consequences of Non-Compliance with SAM Registration Requirements

7. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

a. Pre-Proposal Inquiries and Questions Deadline

b. How Submission Time for Pre-Proposal Inquiries and Questions is Determined

c. Effect of Missing Pre-Proposal Inquiries and Questions Deadline

d. Proposal Submission Deadline

e. How Proposal Submission Time is Determined

f. Grants.gov Tracking Number is Application Receipt

g. Effect of Missing the Proposal Submission Deadline

8. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW

9. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

a. Proposal Preparation Costs

d. Pre-Award Costs

e. Air Force Office of Scientific Research No-cost Extension (NCE) Policy

f. Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements--Representation

g. Other Submission Requirements

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

1. CRITERIA

a. Principal Evaluation and Selection Criteria

2. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

a. Merit-based, Competitive Procedures

b. Cost Analysis for Reasonableness and Realism

3. DISCLOSURE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSING BY CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL 44

4. NO GUARANTEED AWARD

F. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

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1. SELECTION NOTICES

a. Electronic Notification

b. Selection for Possible Award Does Not Authorize Work

2. AWARD NOTICIES

a. Federal Award Document

b. Electronic Federal Award Distribution

3. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

a. Reporting of Matters Related to Recipient Integrity and Performance

b. Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants

c. Cross-Cutting National Policy Requirements

d. Acknowledgment of Research Support

e. Disclaimer Language for Research Materials and Publications

f. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements

g. DoD Research and Development General Terms and Conditions

h. Conditions of Award for Recipients Other Than Individuals

i. Minimum Record Retention Requirements

j. Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 .. 47

k. Certification Regarding Disclosure of Funding Sources (Supplement to SF42 (R&R), block 17, Financial Assistance Certifications and Representations)

4. REPORTING

a. Monitoring and Reporting Program Performance

b. Technical Performance Report Format

c. Department of Defense (DD) Form 882 Report of Inventions and Subcontracts

d. Standard Form (SF) 425 Federal Financial Report

e. Electronic Payment Requests and Electronic Payment

f. Property Reports

g. Other Reports

h. Electronic Submission of Reports

G. AGENCY CONTACTS

1. TECHNICAL INQUIRES AND QUESTIONS

2. GENERAL INQUIRIES AND QUESTIONS

H. OTHER INFORMATION

1. OMBUDSMAN

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2. GRANTS AND CONTRACTING OFFICERS AUTHORITY

3. ADDITIONAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

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A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) in collaboration with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) is soliciting proposals for the “Materials Characterization and Quantum Performance: Correlation and Causation” (MQC) program. The topic areas that we seek to support with this FOA are independent from those described in our open BAA entitled “Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research” and do not fall completely within any one research program. We seek to support multidisciplinary research efforts, creating synergies to speed DoD-relevant research and development.

Basic research and applied research are defined in the DoD Financial Management Regulation:

Basic research is systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts without specific applications towards processes or products in mind. It includes all scientific study and experimentation directed toward increasing fundamental knowledge and understanding in those fields of the physical, engineering, environmental, and life sciences related to long-term national security needs. It is farsighted high payoff research that provides the basis for technological progress (DoD 7000.14-R, vol. 2B, chap. 5, para. 050201.B).

Applied research is systematic study to understand the means to meet a recognized and specific need. It is a systematic expansion and application of knowledge to develop useful materials, devices, and systems or methods. It may be oriented, ultimately, toward the design, development, and improvement of prototypes and new processes to meet general mission area requirements. Applied research may translate promising basic research into solutions for broadly defined military needs, short of system development. This type of effort may vary from systematic mission-directed research beyond that in Budget Activity 1 to sophisticated breadboard hardware, study, programming, and planning efforts that establish the initial feasibility and practicality of proposed solutions to technological challenges. It includes studies, investigations, and non-system specific technology efforts. The dominant characteristic is that applied research is directed toward general military needs with a view toward developing and evaluating the feasibility and practicality of proposed solutions and determining their parameters. Applied research precedes system specific technology investigations or development. Program control of the applied research program element is normally exercised by general level of effort. Program elements in this category involve pre-Milestone B efforts, also known as Concept and Technology Development phase tasks, such as concept exploration efforts and paper studies of alternative concepts for meeting a mission need (DoD 7000.14-R, vol. 2B, chap. 5, para. 050201.C).

Detailed descriptions and the government point(s) of contact can be found below in Section G.1. The descriptions are intended to provide the applicant a frame of reference and are not meant to be restrictive to the possible approaches and component solutions to achieving the goals of the topic and the program. Innovative ideas addressing these research topics are highly encouraged.

Proposals from an investigator team from multiple university departments and universities are warranted to assemble the expertise necessary to address the topics. Teams are also highly encouraged to leverage industry collaborations, where appropriate, to demonstrate an ability to https://comptroller.defense.gov/portals/45/documents/fmr/current/02b/02b_05.pdf https://comptroller.defense.gov/portals/45/documents/fmr/current/02b/02b_05.pdf https://comptroller.defense.gov/portals/45/documents/fmr/current/02b/02b_05.pdf https://comptroller.defense.gov/portals/45/documents/fmr/current/02b/02b_05.pdf

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develop solutions that can be eventually applied to a specific application. Proposals shall name one Principal Investigator (PI) as the responsible technical point of contact. Similarly, one institution shall be the primary awardee for the purpose of award execution. The PI shall come from the primary institution. The relationship among participating institutions and their respective roles, as well as the apportionment of funds including sub-awards, if any, shall be described in both the proposal text and budget.

1. SUMMARY

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), in collaboration with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS), is soliciting proposals for the “Materials characterization and Quantum performance:

Correlation and causation” (MQC) program. This program takes a “materials-first” approach to improving stability and reproducibility of state-of-the-art quantum bits (qubits). MQC focuses on solid-state qubits, for use in gate-based quantum computing, built from semiconductor- and superconductor material systems. Of particular interest are Si-based gate defined quantum dots or Josephson junction-based quantum circuits (see section 3 for more details). More specifically, the goal of the research to-be-funded under this FOA is to identify correlations between qubit performance metrics and material properties (see section 4 for examples), where the main focus is on identifying material properties which can be characterized in a high throughput and precise manner. In addition, an equally important goal is to identify the underlying physical mechanisms giving rise to these correlations. These mechanisms shall be supported by detailed material characterization measurements as well as material micro-structure and device modeling efforts.

To achieve these goals, the primary approach shall be to implement multiple steps in a closed loop (see figure 1), starting with theory and modeling, followed by material synthesis, detailed characterization, device fabrication, final characterization and device measurement, before feeding back to material modeling once more (see section 2 for a more complete description of each step of the loop). The material characterization steps are of particular importance to achieve the goals of this FOA.

Figure 1: Loop illustrating each step required to correlate qubit performance metrics with material parameters

Qubit informed materials modeling

Growth (synthesis)

Characterization:

e.g. Bulk/interface

/defect

Fabrication into qubit devices

Final materials characterization

Cryogenic qubit performance measurements

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Material and device modeling shall play an essential part of each step of the loop. If successful and the loop is closed, resulting in the identification of correlations between qubit metrics and material properties along with supporting modeling, it is anticipated that these characterization techniques can be deterministically used as a proxy to predict qubit performance levels, and furthermore, accelerate the identification and elimination of material “bottlenecks” to improve qubit performance. This approach is a departure from empirical methods which aim to improve qubit performance without identification of precise correlations with material properties. To be clear, this program does not aim for incremental qubit performance improvements, but rather seeks to create a fundamental understanding of correlations between qubit performance metrics and material properties, which may originate from disorder and defects within the constituent materials. Hence, one possible approach is to alter the qubit design to be purposefully sensitive to particular material parameters, and thus intentionally degraded by material sources of loss or noise, in order to investigate mechanisms and causes for material-dependent qubit performance. Such methodology would greatly accelerate evaluation and optimization of new materials, fabrication techniques or growth processes without resorting to expensive and time-consuming qubit measurements. An alternative methodology that proposers may utilize, is to build qubit proxies (see next section) which have proven links to qubit metrics but are more easily measurable and thus could provide higher throughput feedback to material characterization techniques.

Multidisciplinary Approach with Interdependency of tasks:

The scientific challenge of understanding the interplay between qubit performance metrics and material properties, is inherently complex and multifaceted. Therefore, a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach to material characterization, theory, modeling, materials synthesis, device fabrication, and quantum device characterization, is an essential aspect of proposals to this FOA. The program structure necessitates a multi-disciplinary multi-PI team with a materials-led approach to cover and integrate the different aspects of loop variation proposed (i.e., material choices, qubit types, modeling approach etc.).

2. BACKGROUND AND FURTHER DETAILS

A critical qubit performance metric is the duration quantum information can persist once encoded. The loss of this encoded information is often described by two parameters, coherence time (T2) and relaxation time (T1) (see section 4 for definitions). What’s more, noise present during gate operations can limit the accuracy to which this quantum information can be manipulated once encoded, often described by fidelity metrics. These loss and noise limitations may have origins in the surrounding materials and interfaces and their associated microstructure (such as two-level-system defects or other sources of charge or flux noise) that are phenomenologically categorized but not well understood. Currently lacking are direct correlations between specific defects, interface non-idealities, or other material related properties, and their impacts on qubit performance. Once identified, these correlations could lead to the identification of the root causes of performance loss originating from underlying solid-state materials, which in-turn could inform subsequent targeted mitigation for the ultimate goal of improved qubit performance.

Fortunately, there is a significant research history in disorder and material defects that has yielded accumulated know-how for the electronics industry. Such material defects include vacancy agglomerations, dislocations, unbalanced charge regions, sublattice phase boundaries, anti-phase boundaries, stacking faults, and others. Other material properties that also influence performance include electro-magnetic, optical, acoustic, and thermal properties. However, correlating these material properties and their relationship to quantum computing qubit metrics remains elusive.

Correlating the broad range of materials properties listed above with semiconductor device performance

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has yielded practical advancements for classical electronics technology. This FOA aims to provide such links for solid-state quantum computing systems.

In the quantum realm there have been a few recent examples linking material characterization with qubit performance. For example, linking the oxide on superconducting films with qubit loss1 has led to a means to optimize the superconductor and resulting oxide, resulting in record lifetimes. This research implemented models that informed device design to be sensitive to specific sources of loss. The research employed materials science characterization tools to study interfaces and used quantum characterization of devices to correlate with materials characterization results.

Qubits are typically measured in low numbers and close to absolute zero at mK temperatures. The ideal material characterization procedure would be high throughput and would occur at easily obtainable environmental conditions. Similarly, qubit proxies may be designed and optimized to provide high-throughput feedback to the material characterization steps.

Device Proxies:

Proxies are defined as test structures that enable the evaluation of specific synthesis techniques, processing methods or device constituent materials and structure (e.g., interfaces) without having to fabricate and test a full quantum device under appropriate operating conditions. Proxy performance can then be correlated with material characterization techniques. Frequently used examples include superconducting resonator quality factors (Q) or transport measurements in quantum dots 2. Avoiding the need to fabricate entire qubit devices, and perhaps avoiding cryogenic testing, could be a valuable means to accelerate the identification of correlations.

Material Development Loop:

The material development loop consists of the following steps:

1. Qubit-Informed Materials Modeling: As stated above, a core goal of the research to be funded under this FOA is to uncover the physical root cause of identified correlations between material properties and qubit performance metrics. This requires detailed material-centric modeling and simulation, supporting the data, to link each step of the loop. This program may involve leveraging Density Functional Theory (DFT) as well as the development of new computational tools. Other, examples include, but are not limited to, ab-initio atomistic simulations or quantum Monte Carlo techniques, the propagation of atomistic and electronic information across multiple length scales into a device description of qubits and their errors and spatio-temporal noise modeling. Furthermore, modeling may be required to predict the expected behavior of fabricated qubit and proxy devices, with attention to correlations with materials properties. Note, modeling may apply to any step of the loop but importantly shall aim to link well characterized material properties to the resulting qubit or proxy performance metrics.

2. Growth (synthesis): Growth refers to epitaxial and thin film growth of materials or hetero-structures of interest: exploration of various growth techniques, variation of growth parameters, exploration of

1 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2301.07848.pdf, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0953- 2048/29/6/064003, https://journals.aps.org/prxquantum/abstract/10.1103/PRXQuantum.3.020312, https://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.4893297, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0953- 2048/29/4/044001 2 Mi PRB V92 p035304 (2015), https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.035304 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2301.07848.pdf https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0953-2048/29/6/064003 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0953-2048/29/6/064003 https://journals.aps.org/prxquantum/abstract/10.1103/PRXQuantum.3.020312 https://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.4893297 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0953-2048/29/4/044001 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0953-2048/29/4/044001 https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.035304

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controlled growth to tailor material composition and dopants, interfaces with differing relative orientations, and material phases. It is expected that technical advances in equipment and processes used to produce these materials may be required; therefore, other approaches not listed here are welcome.

3. Bulk/interface/defect characterization: This is a key step and may employ traditional material characterization techniques such as, but not limited to Nuclear Magnetic Resonance/Electron Spin Resonance (NMR/ESR), X-ray or Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS/UPS), Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), Raman Spectroscopy, EDS, Transmission Electron Microscopy/Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (TEM/in-situ EELS), Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Photoluminescence Spectroscopy (PL), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM), THz- Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) ellipsometry, Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES), Polarized Neutron Reflectometry (PNR), Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), Ellipsometry, 4 point probe, mercury probe, or the development of targeted material characterization techniques. Qubits require a high degree of precision in material thickness and crystal structure; therefore, advancements in fabrication tools with in-situ characterization capabilities and characterization tools that extend sensitivity floors beyond the current state-of-the-art are areas of interest. In addition, the development of novel or unconventional characterization techniques targeted to extract specific qubit-relevant parameters is of relevance to this FOA.

4. Fabrication: For the purposes of the research contemplated under this FOA, fabrication means any processing which moves from pristine grown substrates, hetero-structures and films to functioning qubit or qubit proxy devices, such as Josephson junctions (JJ) arrays, Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) Capacitors, or Hall bars. Example fabrication steps include, chemical or plasma based etches, optical or e-beam lithography, deposition of metals/oxides, and interface/surface cleaning procedures. Furthermore, characterization techniques deployed throughout the fabrication process (in-line) may be relevant and directly applicable to uncovering correlations with qubit performance metrics introduced by processing in films, interfaces, bulk oxides, etc.

5. Final materials characterization: After fabrication, basic material parameters will likely have changed (e.g., surface contamination, oxidation etc.) and new defects and interfaces may be introduced. Final characterization complements step number 3 and these two characterization steps allow comparison of materials properties done before and after fabrication is completed. It is expected that additional characterization techniques will be employed at this step such as destructive testing of completed devices, or targeted characterization of critical circuit elements.

6. Qubit and/or proxy device performance measurements: This step involves dicing the wafer, packaging the qubit and/or proxy device and measurement, potentially at cryogenic temperatures.

Qubit and/or proxy device metrics are extracted at this stage employing techniques such as lifetime measurements, noise spectroscopy, analysis of spatiotemporal noise and drift as well as randomized benchmarking or other quantum state tomographic techniques. In some cases, devices that have iterated around the loop may undergo further materials characterization in order to perform destructive or non-destructive characterization of devices to further identify correlations between qubit and material properties.

Sub-loops:

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While full proposals shall propose to each step of the loop, approaches initially involving “sub-loops” are encouraged, where only part of the loop is focused on to prove out a concept or to optimize a step.

For full proposals (see next section) information learned during such “sub-loops” shall then be incorporated into later full runs through the loop. For example, only part of the quantum device may be fabricated to focus characterization techniques on certain defects, interfaces, or films in the device structure.

White paper evaluation is meant to initially assess the merits of a proposed effort relative to the goals of this FOA and to provide feedback to the full proposal process. The white paper process is NOT a selection process. White papers must be no more than five (5) pages in length. References and CV/bios will not count against the page limit. White papers should minimally articulate:

1. An initial list of members of the proposed team with a complete bio or CV for each (CVs and/or bios will not count against page limit)

2. Each Bio/CV must include all publications by the proposed member.

3. Current & Pending Support (no page limit; will not count against page limit): Applicants are required to provide information on all current and pending support for ongoing projects and proposals, including subsequent funding in the case of continuing contracts, grants, and other assistance agreements. Applicants shall provide the following information of any related or complementary proposal submissions from whatever sources (e.g., AFOSR, Federal, State, local or foreign government agencies, public or private foundations, industrial or other commercial organizations).

4. The main technical components of the proposed research and how it aligns with the goals of the solicitation.

5. The specific proposed activities with a demonstrated understanding of the basic science needs.

3. GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSALS

Proposals submitted to this program must clearly define the qubit metrics being correlated with as well as targeted material properties and shall provide quantitative milestones to demonstrate progress toward demonstrating reproducible correlations. See section 4 for example lists of such metrics and properties.

The proposed milestones must be relevant to gate-based, fault-tolerant approaches to quantum computing. Additionally, a multi-disciplinary multi-PI team is encouraged with expertise in each step of the loop proposed, to minimally include both material science and qubit technology and should also include material modeling, synthesis, characterization, device fabrication, and final characterization and qubit measurements.

Proposal types:

This FOA is soliciting proposals for two different types of projects: Incubator and Full-Loop.

Incubator Proposals:

Incubator proposals shall propose targeted proof-of-concept studies over a 1 to 2-year period, aimed at motivating the development of a future full-loop, larger team effort. Example topics include the development of novel material characterization techniques focused on specific material properties, modeling efforts and the validation of such models or novel synthesis techniques of qubit relevant materials. Incubator proposals must propose and motivate a “go/no-go” decision after no more than 2-years of investigation. Theory and simulation incubator proposals will also be considered. Following a

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successful incubator proposal that reaches a “go” decision, transition to a full loop proposal will involve organizing a larger multi-disciplinary team and submitting a new proposal when encouraged by AFOSR.

Incubator (sub-loop) proposal requirements:

1. Are limited to a sub-loop.

2. Approaches shall be materials focused. Proposals only involving qubit measurements will not be considered.

3. Shall include a proof-of-concept characterization technique, experiment, simulation and/or modeling effort to form the basis of a full-loop proposal later.

4. Shall propose clear performance milestones as “go/no-go” criteria to motivate formation of a full loop proposal. White papers are encouraged to receive feedback from the USG on proposed go/no-go criteria.

5. Limited to $500K/year for up to 2 years. One (1) year effort will also be considered, if well-motivated.

Full-Loop Proposals:

“Full Loop” proposals shall provide a detailed plan for research along the complete loop from material modeling and synthesis to detailed characterization, device fabrication and qubit measurements. Full loop research is expected to have a performance period of four (4) years. The goal of the first 2 years is to identify fundamental correlations between material properties and qubit performance metrics. The nature of these correlations shall be uncovered, and methods derived to elucidate the microscopic nature of the correlation and to rule out indirect or unanticipated side effects that may be misconstrued as a correlation. Using these correlations and the insight into root causes, the final 2 years shall broaden and capitalize on the identified correlations. Example directions include exploring the material property range over which such correlations persist, their spatio-temporal properties, and could include optimization of materials to improve qubit performance (for full list of interest areas see next paragraph).

Proposals must detail not only the plans for establishing correlations but also the directions for research once correlations are found. While the objectives for the first 2 years of the proposal must be detailed and quantitative, the proposing team’s objectives for the final 2 years are at the discretion of the proposers, depending on the nature of the correlations uncovered. These objectives must support the overall goals of the research contemplated by this FOA: identification of correlations between qubit performance metric and material properties and developing an understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms. The proposal shall include a risk assessment and mitigation plan.

Full Loop proposal requirements:

1. Proposals must identify a multi-disciplinary team with sufficient expertise to conduct all steps along the complete loop as shown in figure 1, with a materials-science led approach. Expertise required includes material and device modeling, synthesis, characterization, device fabrication, final device characterization, and qubit or proxy measurements.

2. Proposals shall detail how each team member will contribute to a step(s) of the loop and how the team will work together to execute a cohesive research plan to identify correlations by iterating around the loop. Furthermore, the proposal shall describe how data are to be shared and analyzed amongst team members and how data will be used to inform each step of the loop leading to significant advancement in the knowledge of materials impact on qubit performance.

3. Proposals shall adhere to the following yearly guidance:

a) Years 1 and 2: Identification of correlation(s) and studies (which shall include modeling and/or simulation) to understand causal and physical nature of correlation.

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b) Years 3 and 4: Deeper exploration of correlations with “stretch-goals” on improving qubit performance. “Stretch-goals” are not required but will be considered if proposed.

i) Identification of further correlations or secondary effects

ii) Exploration of the range of material properties over which correlations persist

iii) Detailed measurements of time-domain fluctuations of material properties and correlation with qubit metric fluctuations

iv) Examination of range of material properties (due to uncontrollable variations in the growth and fabrication process) and associated qubit metric spreads

v) Optimization of material properties to illustrate improved qubit performance levels e.g., growth conditions, interface quality, defect densities etc.

vi) “Stretch-goal”: After deeper exploration of correlations and optimization work, exploration of novel materials, growth, or fabrication methods motivated by discovered correlations to enhance qubit metric are of interest in this FOA.

vii) “Stretch-goal”: If identified correlations are unavoidable and if no known material-based approach can overcome detrimental effects on qubit metrics due to identified material properties, then the development of designs and techniques to reduce sensitivity to such material properties are of interest to this FOA.

4. Full proposals are limited to yearly funding levels of $2,000/1,750/1,500/1,500 K/year for years 1/2/3/4. The majority of equipment purchases, and proposed lab build-up shall be proposed in the first year of the program.

5. Full proposal shall detail how material characterization efforts will be linked with qubit performance metrics. Proposals shall specify which material properties and which qubit metrics the proposal will focus on along with quantitative values/targets. Example metrics and properties are provided in section 4. These lists, however, are by no-means exhaustive. Furthermore, the full proposal shall identify at which step in the loop the proposed characterization occurs and the environmental conditions required for such characterization.

6. Full proposals shall describe how qubits or qubit proxies will be designed to focus on target material, interface, or defect property of interest. Devices shall be designed to emphasize material parameters under investigation. If alternative sensors or proxies are employed instead, full proposals shall describe why sensor sensitivity is a good proxy for qubit performance.

7. Full proposal shall detail which qubit and associated material system is the primary focus, as well as the range of materials applicable to the targeted loop. Furthermore, the proposal shall identify the location(s) in the device (e.g., specific interface), and materials property types of interest. If unknown, the proposal must identify a path to uncovering the leading property (e.g., which interface, what kind of defect, what bulk metric).

8. Examples of qubits and materials of interest include:

a) Superconducting circuits:

i) Substrates: Silicon, sapphire, silicon nitride, silicon-on-insulator etc.

ii) Superconducting material: Aluminum, Niobium, Tantalum, Titanium Nitride, etc.

iii) Insulators: Aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, etc.

iv) Interfaces between substrate and superconductor, within a Josephson junction, between substrate and air etc.

v) Defects in Josephson junction, oxides etc.

b) Si-based quantum dots:

i) Heterostructure: SiGe/Si/SiGe; SiGe/Ge/SiGe; metal-on-oxide (Si-MOS)

ii) Gate Materials: Aluminum, doped-Polysilicon, etc.

iii) Insulators: Aluminum oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxide, etc.

iv) Interfaces: Gate to insulator, insulator to heterostructure, epitaxial interfaces between

Si/SiGe, etc.

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4. FURTHER PROPOSAL GUIDANCE

Teams must propose quantitative qubit metrics and material properties. This section provides example qubit performance metrics and material properties of particular interest to this FOA. The following lists should not be considered exhaustive, and teams may propose alternative qubit metrics and material properties, along with clear justification for the proposed selection.

Example qubit metrics of interest:

• Lifetimes: The longitudinal relaxation time, T1, is the decay constant for the recovery of qubit state towards its thermal equilibrium value. The transverse relaxation time, Tφ, is the decay constant for a prepared superposition state of a qubit to lose phase coherence.

• Gate fidelities: Quantum gate fidelities refer to the accuracy of a control to perform the desired action on a quantum system. Typical fidelities are single and two qubit gate fidelities, which are commonly used for generating superposition states and entangled states respectively.

• Time fluctuations: Characteristic qubit properties like T1, T2, or intrinsic control parameters such as qubit control frequency, can fluctuate on time scales much longer than T1. The sources of these fluctuations, or indeed faster fluctuation on time-scales of gate operations, are poorly understood at this time and may have material origins.

• Spatial fluctuations: Macro fluctuations in control and/or noise that span many qubits can result in spatially correlated errors across many qubits. Spatial fluctuations could also include spatial material and fabrication variations that cause varying error rates spatially across a chip.

Example material properties of interest:

• Defects: Examples include defects at interfaces, surfaces, in the bulk or in specific sub-components e.g. in Josephson junction barrier or in quantum well structures. Properties include type, density, charge interactions, spin, and confinement properties.

• Surface or interface composition: Specific interest in buried interfaces with issues such as oxides, intermixing, contaminants etc.

• Microstructure and crystallinity: Areas of interest include microstructure at grain boundaries or in domains, morphology, and anisotropy.

• Spatio-temporal variations: Time and spatially dependent changes in defects and/or contaminant locations and associated electromagnetic properties.

5. OUT-OF-SCOPE TOPICS FOR THIS FOA:

1. Quantum control techniques to mitigate noise (unless such techniques can be used to understand material source of noise)

2. Qubit systems that have known fundamental limitations to scaling beyond 10 qubits

3. Quantum computing systems based on Majorana Zero Modes or Color Centers

4. Proposals aimed at applications of Quantum Information Science other than gate-based quantum computing, e.g., sensing, communication, networking, and key distribution

5. 2D materials or rare earth materials

6. Isotopic purity/enrichment for spin qubits

**Note that these topics may be appropriate for AFOSR Broad Agency Announcement, which can be found here:

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ADMINISTERING AGENCY HOW TO FIND OUR RESEARCH INTERESTS

Air Force Office of Scientific Research https://www.afrl.af.mil/AFOSR/

Navigate to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=345653 to view the “Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research,” BAA FA9550-23-S-0001.

5. TECHNICAL DETAILS OF PROPOSED RESEARCH

A strong proposal shall outline, as specifically as possible, the technical details of the proposed research. In addition, proposals shall articulate how research goals align with the research topic being addressed. Because of the breadth of research that spans our challenge categories, it is anticipated that groups that submit proposals will include researchers of diverse technical perspectives and technical backgrounds. Finally, efforts integrating a variety of approaches, with a spectrum ranging from basic to applied, are preferred to those using a single approach, especially as these may provide increased opportunities for technology transfer.

A strong proposal should outline, as specifically as possible, the technical details of the proposed research. In addition, proposals should articulate how research goals align with the research topic being addressed. Because of the breadth of research that spans our challenge categories, it is anticipated that groups that submit proposals will include researchers of diverse technical perspectives and technical backgrounds. Finally, efforts integrating a variety of approaches, with a spectrum ranging from basic to applied, are preferred to those using a single approach, especially as these may provide increased opportunities for technology transfer.

a. Access to DoD Resources

Proposals may request access to AFRL facilities or DoD high performance computing resources in order to conduct the proposed research. Proposals should make this request in accordance with the instructions given in the D.4.g. Project Narrative section of this announcement. If authorized, there is no cost to the research for these resources. Applicants are advised that routine access of educational institution researchers to AFRL buildings and facilities is limited to U.S. citizens. Individuals eligible for access are subject to background checks.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Annual funding per incubator grant will be limited to a maximum of $500,000 per year for up to 2 years. Annual funding per full loop grant will be limited to a maximum of $2,000,000/1,750,000/1,500,00/1,500,000 for years 1/2/3/4. Any proposer wishing to submit a proposal outside of this range should discuss their research plan with the relevant Program Officer https://www.afrl.af.mil/AFOSR/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=345653 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=345653

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during the whitepaper phase of this FOA. The total amount of funding and resources made available to fund a successful proposal may vary based on the quality of proposals received and funds availability.

The anticipated period of performance is a 1- or 2-year base period for incubator grant, and a four-year base period for full loop grant. Each yearly period will be incrementally funded.

AFOSR reserves the right to select and fund for award all, some, part, or none of the proposals received. There is no guarantee of an award.

Awards are made under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 4001 in the form of grants, or cooperative agreements. We rely on discretionary appropriated funds for this program. We select what kind of award instrument we can use based on requirements in the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act 31 U.S.C. 6301 – 31 U.S.C. 6308. We discuss regulations, terms, and conditions that generally apply to our awards in Section F. Federal Award

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

a. Qualified and Responsible United States & International Institutions

You are eligible to submit an application if you are a qualified and responsible organization from academia, the non-profit sector, or industry. Note however that grants, and cooperative agreements will be the only instrument awarded off of this FOA. As such, if industry or for-profit institutions decide to submit a proposal, they shall not include a fee or profit within their proposal. Without the fee/profit, industry or for-profit institutions will be able to receive a commercial grant. Academia includes educational institutions in the United States and abroad, as defined at 10 U.S.C. 2194. Educational institution means a local educational agency, college, university, or any other nonprofit institution dedicated to improving science, mathematics, and engineering education.

We review your application, proposal, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) designated repositories of government-wide public and non-public data, including comments you have made, as required by 31 U.S.C. 3321 and 41 U.S.C. 2313 and described in 2 CFR

200.205 and 32 CFR 22.410 to assess risk posed by applicants, and confirm applicants are qualified, responsible, and eligible to receive an award.

b. HBCU/MI, Tribal College and University Applicants Encouraged

Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions (HBCUs/MSIs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities are encouraged to submit research proposals and join others in submitting proposals. However, no funds under this announcement are reserved or otherwise set-aside for any specific entity type. The Air Force will only use the E.1. Criteria for proposal selection.

c. University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title10-section4001&num=0&edition=prelim https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title31/subtitle5/chapter63&edition=prelim https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-C/section-200.205 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-C/section-200.205 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-A/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-22/subpart-D/section-22.410

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University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) are eligible to submit proposals under this announcement unless their Department of Defense UARC contract precludes the application.

d. Ineligible Entities

None of the following entity types are eligible to submit proposals as primary award recipients under this announcement:

1) Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs)

2) Individual persons or people

3) Federal agencies (to include Military Educational Institutions)

2. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

Cost sharing or matching is neither required nor an evaluation criterion for proposals under this announcement. You may propose voluntary committed or uncommitted cost sharing or matching, for example, additional support for students.