The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $61 million in funding for infrastructure and research projects to advance quantum information science (QIS).
Specifically, the DOE is supplying $25 million in funding for creating quantum internet testbeds, which will advance foundational building blocks including devices, protocols, technology, and techniques for quantum error correction at the internet scale.
The DOE also is providing $6 million in funding for scientists to study and develop new devices to send and receive quantum network traffic and advance a continental-scale quantum internet.
Lastly, the DOE granted $30 million of funding to five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers to support cutting-edge infrastructure for nanoscience-based research to strengthen the United States’ competitiveness in QIS and enable the development of nanotechnologies.
“Harnessing the quantum world will create new forms of computers and accelerate our ability to process information and tackle complex problems like climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in a statement. “DOE and our labs across the country are leading the way on this critical research that will strengthen our global competitiveness and help corner the markets of these growing industries that will deliver the solutions of the future.”
The DOE recognized the advantages of QIS back in 2018 when it became an integral partner in the National Quantum Initiative, which became law in December 2018. Since then, the DOE Office of Science has launched a range of multidisciplinary research programs in QIS, including developing quantum computers as testbeds, designing new algorithms for quantum computing, and using quantum computing to model fundamental physics, chemistry, and materials phenomena.
