Quantum Science and Engineering at Cornell

Cornell’s campus is home to a broad range of investigations into the quantum-mechanical nature of our world and universe, as well as the study of how to harness effects that are uniquely quantum mechanical for producing new technology in computing, communication, and sensing.

This website serves as a central source of information about who is working on quantum science and engineering at Cornell, what research areas we cover, and what quantum-related events are taking place.

Upcoming Events

 

News and Breakthroughs

Semiconductor defects could boost quantum technology

In diamonds (and other semiconducting materials), defects are a quantum sensor’s best friend. That’s because defects, essentially a jostled arrangement of atoms, sometimes contain electrons with an angular momentum, or spin, that can store and process information. This “spin degree of freedom” can be harnessed for a range of purposes, such as sensing magnetic fields or making a quantum network.

Researchers led by Greg Fuchs, Ph.D. ’07, professor of applied and engineering physics in Cornell Engineering, went searching for such a spin in the popular semiconductor gallium nitride and found it, surprisingly, in two distinct species of defect, one of which can be manipulated for future quantum applications.

The group’s paper, “Room Temperature Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance of Single Spins in GaN,” published Feb. 12 in Nature Materials. The lead author is doctoral student Jialun Luo.

Read the full story in the Cornell Chronicle.

Physicists detect elusive ‘Bragg glass’ phase with machine learning tool

Cornell quantum researchers have detected an elusive phase of matter, called the Bragg glass phase, using large volumes of x-ray data and a new machine learning data analysis tool. The discovery settles a long-standing question of whether this almost–but not quite–ordered state of Bragg glass can exist in real materials.

The paper, “Bragg glass signatures in PdxErTe3 with X-ray diffraction Temperature Clustering (X-TEC),” published in Nature Physics on Feb. 9. The lead author is Krishnanand Madhukar Mallayya, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). Eun-Ah Kim, professor of physics (A&S), is the corresponding author. The research was conducted in collaboration with scientists at Argonne National Laboratory and at Stanford University.

Read the full story on the College of Arts & Sciences website.

Engineers win Air Force awards to study networks, spintronics

A novel way to analyze complex network contagion and a new material to improve quantum computers, among other devices, is what two Cornell Engineering faculty members will be working toward, respectively, as recipients of 2024 Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Research Program grants.

Francesca Parise, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and of systems engineering, won for her proposal titled “Targeted interventions and higher‐order interactions in complex networks.”

Yu Zhong, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, won for his proposal titled “Precision Synthesis and Assembly of Chiral 2D Polymers for Spintronics.”

Read the full story in the Cornell Chronicle.


Join Us

Cornell Quantum Day – Fall 2023

November 9, 2023
9:00 – 4:30
Phillips Hall, Room 233


If you’re working on quantum research at Cornell and would like to contribute material to this website, please email quantum@cornell.edu.