Duke University Joins $115M Quantum Systems Accelerator Program to Focus on Development of Quantum Computing

(WRAL.TechWire) Duke University is joining 14 U.S. institutions in a five-year, $115 million  Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA) to forge the technological solutions needed to harness quantum information science for discoveries that benefit the world.
Led by Chris Monroe, who joins Duke as a professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics in January 2021 and directs the Duke Quantum Center, Duke’s role in the project will be supported by nearly $11 million over five years. Joining Monroe in the pursuit of quantum advantage are Jungsang Kim, professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics; Ken Brown, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, physics, and chemistry; and Iman Marvian, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics.
As a leading node in QSA, the Duke Quantum Center housed at the Chesterfield Building in downtown Durham will lead the design and fabrication of quantum computer systems based on trapped ions, which are the most reliable systems currently being developed. Duke experts will work closely with collaborators at the University of Maryland, Sandia National Laboratory, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Harvard University, the University of Colorado and NIST-Boulder to improve their next-generation quantum computer systems by developing optical elements for ion trap chips, faster quantum gate operations, a smaller system footprint to increase performance reliability, and piping around individual photons between ion-trap chips to increase the modular scalability of the technology.