AUSMURI Projects

Australia-US Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative Program (AUSMURI)

Project Titles:

• ‘Quantum Control Based on Real-Time Environment Analysis by Spectator Qubits’ 

• ‘Precision tomography of a three-qubit donor quantum processor in silicon’ 

Aim and background

AUSMURI is a nine-year, $25 million investment program encouraging Australian universities to collaborate with universities in the United States to explore opportunities in designated topics. The funding is being provided under the Next Generation Technologies Fund, led by Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG). 

Quantum technologies is a priority theme of the Next Generation Technologies Fund.

Through partnership with industry, academia and government research agencies, Defence aims to understand the potential of quantum technologies, create prototype systems, and demonstrate the practical application of quantum systems to Defence problems. The goal of the Quantum Technologies Research Network is to inform Defence of the potential benefits and practical limitations of quantum technologies through studies and demonstrator systems within three years.

Research project and expected outcomes

Building on the success of the first round of investment, the international collaborations between Australian Universities (Griffith, UTS and UNSW) and the US team have been extended by a further two years with $2 million each in additional funding from Defence’s Next Generation Technologies Fund (NGTF) under the AUSMURI program.

‘Quantum Control Based on Real-Time Environment Analysis by Spectator Qubits’

The project offers near-term work on quantum error correction and quantum software related to quantum control. 

In the first phase of the project ‘Quantum Control Based on Real-Time Environment Analysis by Spectator Qubits’, researchers successfully demonstrated that the spectator qubit paradigm is viable. The second phase will focus on putting the theory into practice. The project has provided ground-breaking advances in quantum sensing and control, according to Dr David Kershaw, Chief of DST Group’s Science Engagement and Impact Division. 

By using the novel spectator paradigm to create greater control over qubits, the project is a step towards revolutionising the way we process and store information and may create knowledge that one day enables error-tolerant quantum computers. 

The result represents a collaboration between the theory team at the Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University; experts in machine learning at the Centre for Quantum Software and Information at UTS, with experiments being conducted at the University of New South Wales. 

‘Precision tomography of a three-qubit donor quantum processor in silicon’ 

The UNSW-UTS consortium created under the AUSMURI Project has established a viable route for scalable quantum information processing using donor nuclear and electron spins, proving the feasibility of near error-free quantum computing by building silicon-based devices compatible with current semiconductor manufacturing technology. 

The performance of quantum processors was verified using gate set tomography, a method developed at Sandia National Laboratories in the US, applied by QSI tomography expert A/Prof Christopher Ferrie in this study, which demonstrates the power yielding by global quantum collaboration. 

QSI Investigators 

A/Prof Christopher Ferrie is leading the Australian team’s efforts in statistical analysis and machine learning, using his expertise in quantum learning via adaptive (online) tomography and quantum control.

Dates

Commenced 2021

Focused research outputs

‘Precision tomography of a three-qubit donor quantum processor in silicon’

Links to press releases

• Researchers work to build error-proof quantum computer, Griffith University press release
• Quantum computing in silicon hits 99 percent accuracy, UNSW press release