MPS/CHE-EPSRC: Developing a Chemical Toolbox for Single-Qubit Entanglement

About This Grant

With support from the Division of Chemistry, Professors David Awschalom and Giulia Galli of the University of Chicago, and Professor Danna Freedman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with their collaborators at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom, are investigating how magnetic quantum-mechanical spin states in molecules can be efficiently measured using light. Molecular magnetic spin states could play an important role in quantum information science. Their long lifetimes, along with the versatility that chemistry offers to manipulate their structure and function, could enable the control of quantum mechanical properties such as entanglement, where the behavior of two or more particles is correlated even when they are separated by large distances. However, a key challenge has been measuring single spins in molecules, where quantum features are most apparent. The research team seeks to address this challenge by creating molecules whose spins can be efficiently interfaced with light. Their discoveries could enable the creation of entangled states that are currently out of reach and contribute to the advancement of quantum-enhanced sensors for understanding chemical and biological systems. This award is made under the NSF-UKRI lead agency opportunity. The project will combine synthetic chemistry, theory, and spin-optical spectroscopies, to develop the systems and techniques that enable entanglement to be created, sustained, and detected in complex molecular systems. Metal coordination complexes will be synthesized that could serve as chemically tunable platforms, in which spatial spin placement is atomistically controlled, and where coherent spin states can be initialized and read out with light, at the single-spin level. The synthesis of new metal complexes containing Cerium and Vanadium will be guided by theoretical prediction of electronic and optical-structure using ab initio methods based on generalized cluster-correlation expansion techniques. Entangled states will be created with microwave-based coherent spin manipulation, and single qubit readout will be accomplished by photoluminescence detection. The ability to generate entangled states and detect them at the single spin level could advance multiple quantum-based applications based on chemical systems, including the development of spin-based quantum sensors. The project will provide research opportunities for students in advanced quantum information science and thus contribute to the development of a quantum-enabled STEM workforce, while the wider public will benefit from the team’s outreach activities. 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.