QUANTUM COMPUTING in the SOLID STATE with SPIN and SUPERCONDUCTING SYSTEMS (QC-S5)

The U.S. Army Research Office (ARO), in collaboration with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS), is soliciting proposals for research in four research topic areas in the field of gate-based Quantum Computing (QC) in the Solid State with Spin and Superconducting qubit Systems (QC-S5).

The topic areas are as follows:

(A) Modular Quantum Gates (ModQ)

(B) Gates on Advanced qubits with Superior Performance (GASP)

(C) Fast control and readout schemes (FastCARS)

(D) Noise in solid-state spin and superconducting systems (NS5)

Responses to these topics must address the circuit gate-based model of quantum computation (QC) and must be suitable for universal control in multi-qubit architectures. Topics A, C, and D require the use of high fidelity, multi-qubit devices, such as gate-defined SiGe or MOS quantum dots or high fidelity multi-qubit superconducting qubit devices to achieve their objectives. Such qubits can be available in-house by the proposing team, via collaborations funded as part of this BAA and/or sourced from a suitable proven qubit foundry. High fidelity refers to the demonstrated ability to implement state-of-the-art low error universal quantum gates and low error readout. Using such qubits, these topics explore novel control techniques (C), noise (D), and information distribution schemes (A).

In contrast, topic B focuses on new spin and superconducting qubits which have a demonstrated superior performance metric when compared to standard leading gate-based qubits. Superior may be defined in relation to a particular performance metric, without sacrificing other important performance metrics (e.g., T1, T2, valley splitting, environmental requirements, etc.). The goal of topic B is to develop high fidelity multi-qubit gate schemes for such qubits.

Following topics which fall outside this call and will not be considered for award:

1) Atomic and molecular systems (e.g., neutral atoms, trapped ions)

2) Optical photon-based QC

3) Systems without a path to universal 1 and 2 qubit gates

4) Immature qubits which have yet to demonstrate a superior performance metric in leading solid-state qubit approaches, without sacrificing performance in other metrics relevant to gate-based quantum computing

5) Quantum simulators or simulations

6) Quantum annealing, measurement-based QC or other non-gate-based QC approaches (exceptions may be granted for specific application areas, e.g. entanglement generation)

Multi-disciplinary teams are encouraged in response to each topic area. Examples of expertise which should be considered as part of each team includes theory, simulation, materials, fabrication and experimental.