欧美口爆视频 Boulder today announced seven winners of the 2023-2024 translational quantum research seed grants incentivizing quantum science and technology innovations launched from the lab to accelerate them along the development path to new programs and businesses.

In April 2023, the 欧美口爆视频 Economic Development Commission approved nearly $1.5 million to help connect discoveries from basic and applied research to 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 startup ecosystem and provide effective pathways for 欧美口爆视频 students to enter the quantum workforce. These translational quantum research seed grants, which are being administered by 欧美口爆视频 Boulder, are one of the first results of that funding.

鈥溑访揽诒悠碘�檚 wealth of academic and national laboratory researchers, along with a thriving ecosystem of established and startup quantum science and technology companies, provides one-of-a-kind opportunities for students, researchers and our workforce,鈥� said Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Dean of the Institutes Massimo Ruzzene. 鈥淭he goal of these seed grants is to help researchers accelerate their discoveries towards commercialization. The success of quantum translation, of which these grants are a part, also has important implications for our national economy and national security.鈥�

The awarded projects鈥攔ooted in research advances with demonstrable commercial potential鈥攊nclude three led by university researchers, all from 欧美口爆视频 Boulder, and four led by commercial enterprises that are pioneering the translation of quantum discoveries into products and services driving economic and everyday impact for 欧美口爆视频 and society. Each award provides $50,000 to advance each project and will be deployed over a period of 18 months. Additional seed grants will be made available through a similar process in each of the next two years.

鈥溑访揽诒悠� leads the world in quantum innovation, quantum companies and quantum jobs,鈥� said 欧美口爆视频 Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) Executive Director Eve Lieberman. 鈥淭he seed grants announced today are an important step to connect quantum discoveries in the lab to the commercial sector, continuing our state鈥檚 leadership in this important new technology and supporting the creation of new businesses and new jobs.鈥�

The seed grants鈥攚hich were made available to any 欧美口爆视频 research institution or industry partner鈥攁re part of an increasing investment to expand on 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 longstanding reputation as a hub of quantum science and technology discovery. The region鈥檚 legacy in the global quantum community is largely a result of decades of leadership and breakthroughs emanating from the triad of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder, NIST and JILA, including four Nobel Prizes in physics awarded to affiliated quantum researchers.

In the context of an accelerating global competition to realize the vast potential promised by quantum science and technology, the push for quantum advances has been the focus of considerable public- and private-sector investment across industries in recent years. In 欧美口爆视频, quantum-related activity is extending beyond the traditional Boulder triad to include a growing web of interconnected ventures that are inventing and innovating to translate research advances into commercially viable products that advance frontiers of quantum to benefit society broadly.

The 欧美口爆视频bit Quantum Initiative at 欧美口爆视频 Boulder鈥攁 leading player in both administering the grant program and facilitating the success of the university鈥檚 quantum research productivity鈥攊s an interdisciplinary hub for quantum research intended to advance the quantum ecosystem broadly. Crafted to focus the nexus of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder, the National Institute of Standards and Technology鈥檚 physics division (as a core component of JILA) and quantum-focused companies, 欧美口爆视频bit aims to advance fundamental science and build a strong foundation for novel quantum technologies and their rapid dissemination, application and commercialization.

鈥溑访揽诒悠� already has the highest number of quantum-related companies in the nation,鈥� said Scott Sternberg, executive director of 欧美口爆视频bit. 鈥淭hese grants, and those in upcoming years, will help keep the translation pipeline healthy and thereby grow our economy.鈥�

• Quantum Science & Technology

Translational Quantum Research Seed Grant Awards

*All awards are $50,000 and for a duration of 18 months

• Longji Cui: 鈥淨uantum electronics driven photocatalysis for efficient clean fuel generation and decarbonization鈥�
  欧美口爆视频 Boulder; Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Charlie Danaher: 鈥淎daptive cooling technology鈥�
  Danaher Cryogenics, Ltd.
• Rozhin Eskandarpour: 鈥淭ranslating quantum contingency analysis from lab to the field鈥�
  Resilient Entanglement Inc.
• Murray Holland: 鈥淒eveloping a strontium optical lattice atom interferometer鈥�
  欧美口爆视频 Boulder; Department of Physics
• Poolad Imany: 鈥淪calable optical cavity nonfabrication for efficient entanglement generation with artificial atoms鈥�
  Icarus Quantum, Inc.
• Philip Makotyn: 鈥淓nabling technology for quantum applications: narrow linewidth innovative lasers鈥�
  Vexlum US
• Greg Rieker: 鈥淐arcinogenic air pollutant monitoring with dual-comb spectroscopy鈥�
  欧美口爆视频 Boulder; Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering

Off

Assistant Professor Longji Cui has received a prestigious  for research he hopes will improve the next generation of nanoelectronics and renewable energy technology.

As nanotechnology continues to miniaturize to near atomic scale, while simultaneously becoming more powerful, the need to understand heat transfer at the fundamental single molecule level becomes crucial. And yet the behavior of heat at the microscopic scale, and the ways in which it can be leveraged to make devices more efficient and less wasteful, is little understood.

With the help of this funding, Cui is looking to fill that knowledge gap. NSF CAREER Awards provide over $500,000 over a period of five years for early career faculty who are dedicated to research and education.

鈥淥ne of the major challenges for the next generation of nanoelectronic devices is heat transport and dissipation,鈥� Cui said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e at that smallest physical scale possible, heat is dissipating over a much smaller area, which makes the density of it even higher.鈥�

Cui has remained focused on this problem throughout his academic career. In 2019, he published a groundbreaking paper in  called 鈥�,鈥� which carried out the first study that measured thermal conductance through a single molecule.

Not only was Cui the first to make these measurements, but the tools and techniques with which he made them were of his own creation, too.

Cui developed a heat-detecting microscope that operates with sub-nanometer spatial resolution and picowatt (one trillionth of a watt) energy resolution. Called ultra-high resolution scanning thermal probe microscopy, or SThM, the microscope allowed Cui to carry out the measurements.

With the funding from the NSF CAREER Award, Cui will continue to push his research to the bleeding edge. In his experiments, Cui has begun to pioneer a new field called molecular phononics, which studies how certain quantum phononic effects could influence thermal transfer.

鈥淧honons are major carriers for thermal transport at the quantum level,鈥� said Cui, 鈥渓ike electrons for electrical transport.鈥�

Cui thinks a better understanding of different quantum electronic and phononic thermal effects could be crucial to improving heat dissipation and thermoelectric energy conversion at the microscopic level. 

This bottom-up approach to energy conversion could not only have outsized effects on the next generation of nanotechnology but on the field of renewable energy, too. Cui鈥檚 research will investigate how the conversion of heat to electricity at the molecular level could lead to a more efficient waste heat harvesting technology in the future.

鈥減uts you in direct contact with some of the leading new fields in thermodynamics and quantum mechanics,鈥� PhD student said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very ambitious.鈥�

Cui wants the next generation of nanoengineers and thermal scientists to be at the vanguard of this research. He also wants to make sure that women and other groups underrepresented in engineering are a major part of this new generation.

鈥淭he cutting-edge fields of nano and quantum thermal engineering are something a mechanical engineer are perfectly suited for,鈥� Cui said. 鈥淏ut first we need to update the curriculum.鈥�

Cui is already teaching a class on quantum engineering for graduate students, but he wants to offer the class at the undergraduate level as well. Cui also plans on developing project-based, hands-on teaching modules for K-12 students that incorporate his expertise in ultra-high resolution scanning thermal probe microscopy.

 鈥淪tudents know about the worlds of nano and quantum technology,鈥� said Cui, 鈥渂ut we need to get it at their fingertips.鈥�

Cui is a faculty member in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Materials Science and Engineering Program. Six faculty members from the College of Engineering and Applied Science received CAREER Awards in 2023.

Off