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A scientific quest to build more accurate clocks, faster computers and new sensors to detect the faintest signs of disease and disaster is getting a $37.5 million financial boost.

The U.S. National Science Foundation,��, is investing in the next phase of CU �鶹ӰԺ and its partners’ work to advance quantum science research and engineering.

“We’re really world leaders in terms of building the best quantum technology tools and applying them to meaningful, impactful scientific problems,” said physicist Jun Ye, a JILA fellow leading the quantum research center based at CU �鶹ӰԺ. “There are still a lot of unknowns in the universe, and only by building some of the most sensitive instruments can we get some clue of what is behind them.”

Those instruments include the next generation of atomic clocks, the world’s most stable laser and sensitive biomedical sensors that can detect disease more quickly in human breath.��

A VUV frequency comb probes a nuclear clock chamber. (Credit: Ye Lab / JILA/CU �鶹ӰԺ)

Ye leads the��NSF Quantum Systems through Entangled Science and Engineering (NSF Q-SEnSE) center. It launched at CU �鶹ӰԺ in 2020 with a $25 million award from NSF and has grown to include 39 researchers from 16 institutions.��

“This is another example of the innovative, impactful research happening at CU �鶹ӰԺ, building on more than 60 years of JILA, NIST and quantum science breakthroughs,” said CU �鶹ӰԺ chancellor Justin Schwartz. "This funding will accelerate the development of transformative technologies, support the growth of Colorado’s thriving quantum ecosystem and further strengthen �鶹ӰԺ’s position as a global hub for quantum innovation in which CU �鶹ӰԺ continues to play a key role.”

Quantum research led by CU �鶹ӰԺ is already helping develop tools that can measure molecules, atoms and other tiny things much more precisely than conventional instruments.��

The center’s research has been cited more than 7,300 times in 96 countries over just the past five years.

“It brings researchers together from different disciplines and areas,” NSF Q-SEnSE executive director Inese Berzina-Pitcher said of the center. “It’s also providing opportunities for graduate students to be involved in very relevant and exciting new research.”��

A portion of the award will fund workforce development and training programs.

More than 30 quantum companies are headquartered along Colorado’s northern Front Range. As recently as Friday, Ye was fielding calls from an atomic computer company to help recruit and hire students.��

Jun Ye

Greg Rieker, a professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering and a co-principal investigator of NSF Q-SEnSE, compared the benefits of the ongoing quantum research revolution to the space race.��

“A remarkable number of modern technologies have roots in the space race,” he said. “We’re now racing toward quantum computing, and��generating spin-off technologies along the way that benefit society in surprising ways.”

One example is optical frequency comb technology. The same lasers used in optical clocks and quantum networks can also detect the smallest molecules in the air.��

“You can use them to look at air quality or human breath to do a medical diagnosis. Those are just two examples of applications enabled by the NSF Q-SEnSE portfolio,” Rieker said.��

Physics professor and JILA Fellow Cindy Regal said the research will also help scientists in the quest to make scientific discoveries.

“Quantum instruments can see minute effects and our team has the fundamental physics expertise to interpret interesting fingerprints in our measurements,” she said.

The CU �鶹ӰԺ-led NSF Q-SEnSE is one of eight NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes that will collectively receive more than $290 million to advance foundational quantum research.

"For more than four decades, NSF has been laying the foundational groundwork of research and discovery that is powering today's modern quantum computing, sensing and communication," said Brian Stone, who is performing the duties of NSF director. "It's time for focused activities to leverage that base of knowledge to drive us even farther forward to the benefit of all Americans. The NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes are a next step for us in understanding the quantum world we live in."

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