The future of technology lies in controlling the quantum realm. Our understanding of the basic principles of quantum mechanics has produced the technology that shapes our daily lives; without quantum mechanics there would be no computers and no internet. However, the materials and devices that are the building blocks of the modern information economy have properties that are naturally occurring, and they do not yet provide access to the most exotic quantum effects that have intrigued scientists since the inception of the field.
Rather than simply take what we find, can we engineer the quantum world to our purposes? Can the strangeness of quantum mechanics be used as a new and untapped resource? We believe the answers are yes, and that today’s technology will seem primitive compared to what awaits.
The Australian research effort for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQuS) will engineer complex, multi-component, quantum systems for new science and new applications. Long standing questions in fundamental physics will be addressed; crossdisciplinary scientific advances will be made linking quantum physics with engineering, chemistry, and biology; and sophisticated technologies will be developed for 21st Century Australian industries.
EQuS will pursue two integrated strategies:
• Combine proven quantum architectures into hybrid systems to realise complex behaviours not possible in each system on its own.
For example, combining micromechanical resonators with diamond quantum dots to enable high-precision biological and chemical sensing.
• Develop theoretical approaches for complex quantum systems to enable a first-principles approach to design of future quantum technologies.
For example, understanding quantum phenomena in photosynthesis, to enable design of efficient photosynthetic reactors.
The EQuS collaboration possesses experimental capabilities in all major successful quantum technologies including spins in semiconductors, superconducting circuits, opto- and nanomechanics, trapped atoms, and quantum photonics. EQuS will expand and combine these technology platforms to produce scientific and technological outcomes that would be impossible via single systems in isolation, pioneering fundamentally new regimes of physics.
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