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EXPANDQISE: TRACK 2: INTEGRATING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PATHWAYS TO THE QUANTUM FUTURE: SYNTHESIS, CONTROL AND READOUT OF SPIN-PHONON QUANTUM STATES FOR QISE EDUCATION. -EMERGING QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIES ARE POISED TO ENABLE POWERFUL NEW FORMS OF COMPUTATION, COMMUNICATIONS, AND SENSING. HOWEVER, THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES WILL REQUIRE THE MASTERY OF COMPLEX PHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND THE BIRTH OF A ROBUST QUANTUM SMART WORKFORCE. TO MEET THESE NEEDS, THIS PROJECT AT NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY CULTIVATES AND EXPLORES NEW APPROACHES, SYSTEMS, AND TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE. THE CENTRAL RESEARCH GOALS OF THIS PROJECT AIM TO PREPARE, CONTROL, AND MEASURE QUANTUM STATES THAT INVOLVE ELECTRONIC, MECHANICAL, MICROWAVE, AND OPTICAL DEGREES OF FREEDOM, ENABLING NEW ?SPIN-OPTOMECHANICAL? SYSTEMS. SCIENTIFIC MILESTONES SPAN FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW BULK-SAPPHIRE MECHANICAL RESONATORS WITH ULTRALOW LOSSES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPTICAL DETECTION TECHNIQUES FOR QUANTUM STATES THAT RESIDE IN THE MECHANICAL DOMAIN. SUCH SYSTEMS AND METHODS MAY PROVIDE SOLUTIONS TO PRESSING CHALLENGES SUCH AS THE RELATIVELY SHORT LIFETIME AND DISTRIBUTION OF QUANTUM INFORMATION. THE PROJECT?S EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS ARE ORGANIZED ACCORDING TO A MULTI-TIERED PLAN, PROVIDING TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES SPANNING FROM THE PH.D.-LEVEL RESEARCHER TO K12 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. DELIBERATE INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE TIERS ARE DESIGNED TO INCREASE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION BY ALLOWING MULTIPLE ENTRY POINTS, SUPPORTING DIFFERENT CAREER DESTINATIONS, PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES TO BUILD STEM IDENTITY, AND ENHANCING A SENSE OF BELONGING. THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY PROMISES PARADIGM SHIFTING ADVANCES IN COMPUTATION, SIMULATION, SENSING, AND COMMUNICATIONS. HOWEVER, MAJOR CHALLENGES, INCLUDING DECOHERENCE AND TRANSDUCTION OF QUANTUM STATES INTO TELECOMMUNICATIONS WAVEBANDS, MUST BE ADDRESSED BEFORE THESE TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE WIDELY UTILIZED. TO EXPLORE NEW APPROACHES TO THESE CHALLENGES, THIS RESEARCH INVESTIGATES THE SYNTHESIS, CONTROL AND MEASUREMENT OF SPIN-PHONON QUANTUM STATES IN SAPPHIRE. GROUND STATE TRANSITIONS OF CHROMIUM IONS AND MECHANICAL MODES OF VIBRATION IN SAPPHIRE CAN HAVE LIFETIMES SURPASSING SECONDS AND, USING MECHANICAL CONFINEMENT AND MAGNETIC FIELDS, CAN BE BROUGHT INTO RESONANCE. COMBINING THESE PROPERTIES WITH PULSED MICROWAVE EXCITATION AND OPTICAL CAVITIES, SUCH SYSTEMS MAY FACILITATE THE TRANSDUCTION OF QUANTUM INFORMATION BETWEEN CHROMIUM IONS, MECHANICAL DEGREES OF FREEDOM AND OPTICAL FIELDS, PERMITTING THE SYNTHESIS AND OPTICAL READOUT OF EXOTIC QUANTUM STATES. PARTNERING WITH EXTERNAL COLLABORATORS AT YALE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA, AND SANDIA NATIONAL LAB, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL CREATE SUCH ?SPIN OPTOMECHANICAL? SYSTEMS AND SYNTHESIZE AND MEASURE SPIN-PHONON QUANTUM STATES USING MICROWAVES AND LIGHT. THE PROJECT WILL ACHIEVE THESE GOALS BY COMBINING BULK-CRYSTALLINE OPTOMECHANICAL DEVICES THAT CAN BE ACCESSED WITH MICROWAVES, NEW FORMS OF CRYOGENICALLY COMPATIBLE OPTICAL COUPLING, AND PRECISION IMPLANTATION OF SINGLE CHROMIUM IONS. THE EXPERIMENTAL PLAN SYSTEMATICALLY BUILDS NEW CAPABILITIES IN QUANTUM PHYSICS, BEGINNING WITH SPIN-PHONON SPECTROSCOPY AND ENDING WITH QUANTUM TOMOGRAPHY MEASUREMENTS. THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY THE HSI PROGRAM, WHICH AIMS TO ENHANCE UNDERGRADUATE STEM EDUCATION, BROADEN PARTICIPATION IN STEM, AND BUILD CAPACITY AT HSIS. THIS PROJECT IS CO-FUNDED BY THE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS (ITEST) PROGRAM, WHICH SUPPORTS PROJECTS THAT BUILD UNDERSTANDINGS OF PRACTICES, PROGRAM ELEMENTS, CONTEXTS AND PROCESSES CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASING STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) CAREERS. SUPPORT FOR THIS PROJECT IS PROVIDED BY THE IMPROVING UNDERGRADUATE STEM EDUCATION (IUSE:EDU) PROGRAM. THE IUSE:EDU PROGRAM SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STEM EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

Project Grant (B) · National Science Foundation · to Northern Arizona University (UEI MXHAS3AKPRN1) · data as of 2026-09-30

Source: USAspending.gov prime award transactions and FSRS subaward reports, as loaded by SpendQuery (data as of 2026-09-30). Amounts are obligations (money committed), not outlays. The official record on USAspending.gov ↗