quantum

Chicago leaders are backing a new quantum computing campus in South Chicago that will create job pipelines. Fermilab’s Natalie Johnson, head of education and public engagement, is among those working on creating career and educational pipelines for locals.

In 2024, Fermilab made significant scientific progress, including advancing preparations for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and conducting groundbreaking quantum research. The laboratory also continued its strong international collaborations — including involvement with the CMS experiment at CERN — and made strides in developing emerging technologies with wide applications beyond physics.

Some friendly competition between the CMS and ATLAS experiments led up to the first discovery of entanglement at the Large Hadron Collider.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved plans to transform a former steel mill site into a cutting-edge quantum computing park known as the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park. PsiQuantum will construct the large facility, aiming to develop a one-million-qubit utility-scale quantum computer. The park will be affiliated with the University of Illinois but will also have partners including Fermilab, Argonne, the Chicago Quantum Exchange and many Chicago universities.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved plans for a quantum computing research park on the vacant U.S. Steel South Works site, advancing a project that could transform Chicago’s South Side into a national technology hub. The park will be managed by a University of Illinois-led organization in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab and other regional institutions.

Participants in the Energy I-Corps program aim to commercialize the Fermilab-developed Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit. QICK has been helping researchers improve their quantum computing performance while minimizing cost.

Scientists at Fermilab and University of Chicago used a superconducting qubit to prepare a microwave cavity in a special state to stimulate photons. They hope this technology will help detect the existence of dark matter.

A new underground research space at Fermilab allows scientists to study superconducting quantum qubits in an environment with significantly reduced interference caused by cosmic rays. The laboratory, called QUIET, has a twin at the Earth’s surface named LOUD. This arrangement allows for controlled direct comparisons of quantum sensor and computing experiments.

Through unique qubit fabrication techniques, scientists have demonstrated systematic improvements in the performance of superconducting devices for quantum computing, communication, and sensing.

Fermilab’s Silvia Zorzetti has received a $2.5 million Early Career Award from the Department of Energy for her research in quantum information preservation.