Click to edit Master title style Quantum Science – Update

James Kushmerick, Director

Physical Measurement Laboratory

VCAT

February 12, 2020
Click to edit Master title style Quantum Information Science Vision

NIST will advance the metrology of quantum entanglement

and superposition to provide a foundation for the

encoding, transmission, and use of quantum information.

NIST QIS Program includes:

• sensing and metrology: precision navigation, timekeeping, magnetic fields

• communication: secure data transmission and storage, random number generation

• simulation: complex materials, molecular dynamics, QCD

• computing: cryptanalysis, quantum chemistry, optimization, quantum field theory

and robust intellectual connections to numerous areas of basic research.

20 year QIS Program is a direct extension of our core research in precision 

time and electrical metrology and now represents a $40.5 M effort.
Click to edit Master title style NIST QIS Strategic Vision

These three activities form an interrelated and selfreinforcing system in which, for example, next-generation 

atomic clocks are engineered to be smaller and more robust 

and thereby enable tomorrow’s measurement services.

NIST will fulfill its mission in QIS

through three coordinated efforts:

• Foundational research emphasizing

QIS and Metrology

• Applied research to engineer and improve the 

robustness of prototypes: Quantum Engineering

• Realization and Dissemination of the

units of measurement: The Quantum SI

Foundational 

Quantum 

Science and 

Metrology

Quantum Engineering

Quantum SI:

Realization of 

the Systéme

Internationale
Click to edit Master title style Joint Institutes Critical to Success

Three collaborative 

institutes at two 

locations provide 

opportunities to:

• Attract world class 

scientists

• Train students and 

postdocs

• Transfer technology
Click to edit Master title style QuICS 5 Year Anniversary
Click to edit Master title style

• Choosing a science-first approach to QIS

• Creating a quantum-smart workforce for 

tomorrow

• Deepening engagement with quantum 

industry

• Providing critical infrastructure

• Maintaining national security and economic 

growth

• Advancing international cooperation

Key QIS Policy Opportunities
Click to edit Master title style

1 2

3 4

Continue and expand basic and applied R&D, 

including measurement and standards 

infrastructure necessary to advance 

commercial development of quantum 

applications

Basic and Applied QIST R&D

Use the existing programs of the NIST, in 

collaboration with other Federal 

departments and agencies, as appropriate, 

to train scientists in quantum information 

science and technology (QIST)

Workforce

Establish or expand collaborative ventures or 

consortia with other public or private sector 

entities, including industry, universities, and 

Federal laboratories for the purpose of 

advancing the field of quantum information 

science and engineering

Collaborate and Work with Others

Enter into such contracts, including 

cooperative research and development 

arrangements, grants and cooperative 

agreements, or other transactions, in 

furtherance of the purposes of this Act

From Contracts to OTA

NIST and the NQI (SEC. 201.)
Click to edit Master title style

• Six plenaries since 8/18; next 3/20

• Recent meetings have had over 100 

company participants

• Workshops:

 Cryogenics (10/19) in Boseman, MT

 Materials and Losses in Superconducting Qubits 

(1/20) in Santa Barbara, CA

 Control Electronics (5/20) in Boston, MA

• Funded a framework report on quantum 

computing market value

• Working group on defense and national 

security led by AFRL to report to the GB

Governing Board & TACs

• Governing Board elected: 3 large 

and 4 small/start-up companies,

2 government agencies 

• 4 Technical Advisory Committees

NIST Support

5 Year Other Transaction Authority

in place with maximum value $50 M

Legal Structure

Potential Member Companies to get 

approved legal documents by early 

March and have 6 months to sign; 

Board to sign by March 2020 Plenary

More than 100 Letters of Intent have been received

QED-C Thriving
Click to edit Master title style

• Standards needs solid body of validated or broadly accepted foundational work

– Premature standardization can entrench inferior approaches

– Competing standards can hinder marketplace adoption

– Aggressive participation by Chinese entities; strong push for Chinese priorities 

• Most mature are in Quantum Key Distribution (ETSI) and Terminology (IEEE, ISO/IEC-JTC1)

• NIST is engaged in quantum standards activities in ITU-T (Telecom)

– Under UN auspices, focused on telecom and network standards

– Focus Group on Quantum Information Technology for Networks (FG-QIT4N)

– Collaboration with QED-C to provide U.S. engagement, leadership

• Ajit Jilla – Telecom Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) which oversees the FG-QIT4N

• Barbara Goldstein – Lead, Standardization Outlook and Technology Maturity subgroup

• QED-C supports James Nagel (L3Harris) as FG Co-chair and

Fred Baker (Lead, Implications of QIT on Networks WG)

Quantum Standards Development
Click to edit Master title style

Leverage our world-leading quantum science 

portfolio to develop a simplified Quantum Network 

to identify and understand classical and quantum 

bottlenecks

• Grand Challenge goals:

– Develop local testbed(s)

– Determine interface specifications for

plug-and-play components

– Characterize components and networks,

develop metrology framework

• Fundamental research provides 

foundation for robust standards to retain 

U.S. leadership in the QIS ecosystem

Quantum Network Grand Challenge

Credit: David Seiler

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4674675
The Power of a Testbed
Click to edit Master title style

QKD Demonstration Provided Fundamental Insights:

• Network timing limits total key

• Detector efficiency limits total key

• Slow detector gating increases background counts/errors

• Slow detector recovery limits total keys

• FPGA memory and distance of QKD link 

limits speed and total key

Result: NIST created a large program on

improved detector efficiency, gating,

and recovery

Ultimately, NIST also developed a program

for characterizing single photon sources

Quantum Key Distribution
Click to edit Master title style

QKD Demonstration Provided Fundamental Insights:

• Network timing limits total key

• Detector efficiency limits total key

• Slow detector gating increases background counts/errors

• Slow detector recovery limits total keys

• FPGA memory and distance of QKD link 

limits speed and total key

Result: NIST created a large program on

improved detector efficiency, gating,

and recovery

Ultimately, NIST also developed a program

for characterizing single photon sources

Quantum Key Distribution

Loophole-Free Bell Test

• A Bell-inequality “violation” invalidates

hidden-variable pictures of reality

• Paradigm shift in RNG: the only known way

to certify universal unpredictability
Quantum Network Foundations

14 14
Click to edit Master title style Entangling Isolated Superconducting Qubits

C L L C

JILA NIST qubit qubit

optical 

homodyne

photon entanglement

vibrating 

membrane 

Alice Bob

Carl(elator)

Primary Activities

• Transduction

• Quantum correlation

• Quantum networks

Goals

• First link in a quantum network of superconducting qubits

• Expandable test-bed and technology pathfinder network

• “Plug and play” networking for disparate qubit technology
Click to edit Master title style

• Entangled pairs of photons are key

building block of quantum communication

• Long-distance fiber optic communications

requires specific band in the infrared

• Local processes for information storage and

computation need visible-band photons

• NIST invented Si3N4 nanophotonic

ring resonator that generates required pairs

through spontaneous four-wave mixing

• Manufacturable in large numbers

– Provisional patent, pending Bayh-Dole election

https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2019/02/entangling-photons-different-colors

Entangled Photon Pairs of Different Colors

By carefully engineering the geometry of a micrometer-scale,

ring-shaped resonator, researchers at NIST produced pairs of

entangled photons, one at a desired visible wavelength and

one for transmission over long-distance fiber optics.

Visible

Light

Photons

Pump Laser

Infrared

(Telecom)

Photons

Ring

Resonator

Entanglement Generation

With a Ring Resonator
Click to edit Master title style

• Protocols to entangle photons remotely

– Alternative to photon pair generation

• Photons produced on-demand

simultaneously using unlike sources

• Photon-to-photon transduction

to overcome spectral disparity

– Visible band for storage and computation

– Infrared band for long-distance communication

• Demonstrated high-visibility quantum

interference between resultant photons

– Critical step towards remote entanglement

https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2019/12/new-playbook-interference

Visible to Infrared Photon Transduction

Building A Building B

Barium Ion Rubidium Atoms

150 m

Optical

Fiber

Single Photon Detector

Single

Photon

Detector

1343 nm Laser

Derived

780 nm

Photon

780 nm

Photon

Photon

Interference

Correlation

Detection

Frequency

Conversion

493 nm

Photon

Nonlinear

Crystal

Simplified schematic of an interference experiment in which two

photons having different colors (493 nm, 780 nm), generated by

different sources and produced in different buildings, are made to

interfere. The 493 nm photon is converted to 780 nm, which is

demonstrated to be indistinguishable from the other.
Click to edit Master title style

• Gating—

controlling the state of one qubit 

conditioned on the state of another

• Key procedure in all quantum 

information processors

• As scale of quantum processors 

increases, qubits need to interact over 

larger distances

• Quantum gate teleportation—

separated qubits interacting effectively

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw9415

Quantum Gate Teleportation

Two beryllium ions (B1 and B2) are over 300 μm apart and in a 

superposition of spin states. Two entangled magnesium ions 

(M1 and M2) are messengers. M1 is shuttled off to B1, and a 

CNOT operation on them leaves B1, M1, and M2 entangled if 

B1 is in a superposition. A measurement of M1’s spin leaves B1 

and M2 entangled. Afterward, M2 is entangled with B1 and B2 

through another CNOT, and a measurement of M2’s spin yields 

the desired CNOT operation on B1 and B2. The final gate 

performs as expected for an ideal CNOT 85% – 87% of the time.
Quantum Degenerate Fermi Gas Clock

• First application of a quantum degenerate gas to a “practical” 

measurement: A quantum-enhanced precision measurement

 ~1 million atoms: 100 x 100 x 100 in a 3D-optical lattice

 Pauli exclusion: Only one atom per lattice site

 Precision 3 x 10-20 Hz-1/2, on path to 10-22 in a few years

 Coherence time 160 seconds and improving

• Potential laboratory for fundamental physics, including quantum gravity, 

dark matter detection, and long-baseline astronomical observation

3D Fermi gas strontium (Sr) 

optical lattice clock

S.L. Campbell et al., Science 358, 

90 (2017); G.E. Marti et al., 

Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 103201 

(2018); Norcia et al., Science 

366, 93 (2019).
Click to edit Master title style Interagency Coordination

NIST will convene QIS 

leaders from other 

government agencies 

to coordinate efforts to 

build the quantum 

internet.
Click to edit Master title style Looking Forward

Coordination

Continue QED-C leadership and 

facilitate a unified interagency 

strategy for Quantum Networks

Research

Leverage existing expertise to 

develop a Quantum Network 

testbed

Standards Development

Maintain a strong presence in 

relevant standards development 

bodies to protect US interests and 

promote the Quantum Economy

Technology Transfer

Explore possibility of a joint 

Quantum Engineering center to 

promote technology maturation 

and translation
Click to edit Master title style

Questions?