Quantum research

Technique tunes into graphene nanoribbons’ electronic potential

January 3, 2022

Photo of nanoribbons

Photo: Scanning tunneling microscopy image of a zigzag graphene nanoribbon. (Credit: Felix Fischer/Berkeley Lab)

Ever since graphene – a thin carbon sheet just one-atom thick – was discovered more than 15 years ago, the wonder material became a workhorse in materials science research. From this body of work, other researchers...

Atom computing raises $15M and launches first-generation quantum computer

July 22, 2021

Illustration of quantum computer

Atom Computing announced its first-generation 100-atom quantum computer on July 21, 2021. (Image courtesty Atom Computing.)

Quantum computing company Atom Computing, co-founded by Jonathan King (Ph.D. '12, ChemE), will base...

Kwabena Bediako joins CIFAR research programs

August 11, 2020

Kwabena Bediako

Kwabena Bediako, the Cupola Era Assistant Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, has been announced as a 2020 CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar. The program supports...

Quantum expert Birgitta Whaley appointed to White House science advisory council

October 22, 2019

Birgitta Whaley

Birgitta Whaley, a UC Berkeley professor of chemistry and co-director of the Berkeley Quantum Information and Computation Center, has been appointed to the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the White House announced on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Whaley, who is also a faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was among seven new advisers, the first PCAST members appointed by President Donald Trump since his inauguration three years ago. Upon signing an executive order this morning launching PCAST, President Trump indicated that he would appoint another nine advisers, for a total of 16.

Meet our faculty: Martin Head-Gordon

October 22, 2019

Martin Head-Gordon

Learn about Martin Head-Gordon, a theoretical chemist at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a recently elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. He develops electronic structure theory to permit improved calculations of molecules, including the strength of chemical bonds. To better understand how and why bonds form, he also works on energy decomposition analysis (EDA), which gives the value of physically different contributions to chemical bonds.

Quantum dots are just as awesome as we'd hoped

April 11, 2019

Geraldine Richmond

Quantum dots—tiny, easy-to-produce particles—may soon take the place of more expensive single crystal semiconductors in advanced electronics found in solar panels, camera sensors, and medical imaging tools.

Scientists measure near-perfect performance in low-cost semiconductors

March 15, 2019

High-quality bespoke nanocrystalsTiny, easy-to-produce particles, called quantum dots, may soon take the place of more expensive single crystal semiconductors in advanced electronics found in solar panels, camera sensors and medical imaging tools. Although quantum dots have begun to break into the consumer market – in the form of quantum dot TVs – they have been hampered by long-standing uncertainties about their quality. Now, a new measurement technique developed by researchers at Stanford University and UC Berkeley may finally dissolve those doubts.

Stephen Leone and Norman Yao receive Keck Foundation funding

February 19, 2019

Stephen Leone and Norman Yao, UC BerkeleyProfessors Stephen Leone and Norman Yao have been awarded a $1m science and engineering research grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation. The two scientists will utilize a new technique, ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy, to address important unanswered questions about the formation of non-equilibrium topological phases.

The never-ending race to concoct the bluest blue

September 7, 2018

quantum blue pigmentIn an underground lab in California, scientists have created a new hue called Quantum Blue. Fifth-year Ph.D. chemistry students Arunima Balan and Joseph Swabeck are on the trail to the blueset blue. Paul Alivisatos, Samsung distinguished professor of nanoscience and nanotechnology opened up his lab and assigned Balan and Swabeck to work on the fascinating problem of creating the new pigment color using quantum dot technology with artist Olga Alexopoulou.

Atom Computing receives VC funding to create a radical new paradigm in quantum computing

September 27, 2018

JAtom Computers acquires VC funding for development

The promise of Quantum Computers will unlock a new dimension of computing capabilities that are not possible today with classical computers, regardless of the size, compute power, or parallelization.