UCSB’s Marquis team joins $27.9M institute to rebuild quantum junctions

A layer of material just a few atoms thick inside the Josephson junction may be the key limitation preventing the next leap in quantum computing power, according to researchers at UC Santa Barbara. The university’s team joins the new $27.9 million MARQUIS institute, funded by the National Science Foundation, which brings together 24 laboratories across nine institutions to address this challenge. “The Josephson tunnel junction is now, finally, the weakest element in a superconducting quantum processor,” says Nobel laureate Michel Devoret, a UCSB physics professor and pioneer in superconducting circuits. MARQUIS will focus on rebuilding this critical component, seeking improvements to the design after decades of progress in other areas of quantum computing. UCSB Team Targets Josephson Junction Limitations in $27.9M Institute The collaborative approach at UC Santa Barbara, central to the new MARQUIS institute, prioritizes interdisciplinary problem-solving, bringing together expertise rarely found in a single location. Professors Devoret, Palmstrøm…