A quantum leap into advanced technologies

As the global race for quantum computing continues to heat up, the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) has taken a major leap forward in unlocking the full potential of quantum technologies.

UniSQ has been awarded $3.4 million in Queensland Government funding and $170,000 in cash contributions from industry partners to develop Australia’s first industry-accessible cryogenic electronics measurement facility.

The new national test and measurement facility will provide critical cryogenic infrastructure for Australia’s quantum and advanced manufacturing sector, enabling the development of quantum hardware, semiconductors, sensors, and superconductors primarily for the aerospace, medical, and energy industries.

UniSQ Dean (Research Infrastructure) and chief investigator Professor Brad Carter said the national facility would also provide opportunities for research institutions, government and education providers to boost their capabilities in quantum and advanced technology development and training.

“Quantum technology is set to change the world through quantum computing and other applications such as quantum sensors,” Professor Carter said.

“This facility will address a critical national capability gap to produce and operate cost-effective cryogenic electronics research and development lab infrastructure to grow a competitive quantum technology industry.

“It will also help the University foster new partnership opportunities with industry and make advances in this exciting field.”

Fellow chief investigator Professor Robert Sang, an experimental quantum physicist, said the facility would be built at UniSQ’s Springfield campus and is expected to be operational by next year.

“The quantum particles used in quantum computers and devices are exquisitely sensitive to the environment, which can disrupt the measurement of their quantum properties,” Professor Sang said.

“To reduce the effects of the environment, very cold cryogenic temperatures are used in the detectors.

“The facility will include two dilution refrigerators that can reach cryogenic temperatures down to a few milli-Kelvins, which is one hundredth of a degree above absolute zero.

“These refrigerators enable electronics to operate in a regime where quantum effects dominate, which are otherwise swamped at higher temperatures.”

The $3.4 million in funding was awarded through the Quantum and Advanced Technologies Commercialisation Infrastructure program, an initiative of the Queensland Quantum and Advanced Technologies Strategy.

The funding success comes just two months after UniSQ signed a Memorandum of Understanding between Queensland’s universities and quantum computing pioneer PsiQuantum to support the growing demand for skills in the quantum computing economy and explore research projects.

The National Cryogenic Electronics Measurement Facility was one of three UniSQ-led projects that received funding support from the Queensland Government under the strategy.

Researchers Associate Professor Toan Dinh, Professor Stephen Bird, Associate Professor Dean Mills and Professor John Bell were awarded $832,411 through the Quantum 2032 Challenge program. They will partner with researchers at the University of Technology Sydney to develop quantum and advanced wearable sensor technology for injury prevention in youth athletes.

UniSQ also received a $200,000 Global Talent Attraction PhD scholarship through the Quantum and Advanced Technologies Talent Building Program, which will be awarded to an international HDR student that identifies as a woman or is non-binary for research in quantum science or advanced technologies.