Joint Quantum Institute

Joint Quantum Institute
Name	Joint Quantum Institute
Established	2006
Type	Research institute
Location	College Park, Maryland
Affiliations	University of Maryland; National Institute of Standards and Technology; Maryland

Contents

Joint Quantum Institute

The Joint Quantum Institute is a collaborative research partnership between the University of Maryland, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and affiliated laboratories focused on quantum science and technology, located near College Park, Maryland on the University of Maryland, College Park campus. The institute brings together researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the University of Maryland, the Army Research Laboratory, the National Science Foundation, and industrial partners such as Google, IBM, and Microsoft to pursue research in quantum information, quantum optics, and quantum materials. Scientists affiliated with the institute have published work in venues associated with the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America, and the Physical Review Letters community.

Overview

The institute focuses on experimental and theoretical research in areas including trapped ions, neutral atoms, superconducting qubits, quantum metrology, and quantum simulation, with researchers linked to the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, the National Quantum Initiative, and the Quantum Economic Development Consortium. Its membership spans faculty from the University of Maryland, staff from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, fellows from the Joint Quantum Institute Postdoctoral Program, and collaborators at the Army Research Office, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and private labs such as Honeywell and Rigetti Computing. The institute organizes seminars tied to conferences like the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, workshops associated with the Gordon Research Conferences, and tutorials for summer schools such as those run by the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter.

The institute was established in 2006 to leverage the strengths of the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards and Technology following collaborations during projects funded by the National Science Foundation and agreements with the Department of Commerce. Early work drew on traditions from groups associated with the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and techniques developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratories. Founding researchers included faculty who previously worked with teams at the Joint Quantum Center and with Nobel laureates whose work is celebrated by institutions such as the Royal Society and the National Academy of Sciences. Over time the institute expanded partnerships with the Army Research Laboratory, the Office of Naval Research, and international collaborators from institutions like the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, the University of Oxford, and the École Normale Supérieure.

Research programs encompass trapped-ion quantum computation building on methods pioneered by groups associated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, neutral-atom optical lattice experiments informed by techniques from the Joint Quantum Institute’s collaborators at the MIT laser laboratories, superconducting circuit development linked to designs from IBM and Google hardware teams, and quantum sensing initiatives connected to standards research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The institute runs thematic programs in quantum metrology often presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meetings, quantum simulation projects that echo experiments from the CERN quantum simulation efforts, and information-theoretic investigations tied to faculty involved with the Institute for Advanced Study and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Graduate and postdoctoral training programs coordinate with the University of Maryland Graduate School, fellowships sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, and interdisciplinary initiatives linked to the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences.

Laboratory facilities include cryogenic dilution refrigerators developed with suppliers used by National Institute of Standards and Technology labs, ion-trap workshops similar to those at the National Institute of Standards and Technology Physics Laboratory, optical laboratories equipped with lasers from manufacturers used by teams at Stanford University and Harvard University, and cleanroom fabrication facilities coordinated with the University of Maryland Nanocenter. The institute hosts collaborative groups with the Army Research Laboratory, joint projects with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Physical Measurement Laboratory, and partnerships involving companies such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. International collaborations have included exchanges with the Max Planck Institute, joint experiments with researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and cooperative programs with the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Educational activities feature graduate courses cross-listed with the University of Maryland physics and computer science departments, outreach programs for K–12 coordinated with the Howard County Public School System and the Maryland STEM Festival, and public lectures presented at venues like the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum of Science and Industry. The institute supports internships funded through grants from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, offers workshops for teachers associated with the American Association of Physics Teachers, and participates in policy discussions at forums run by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.