Author: Bekka Coakley

As a high school student, Bellevue, WA native Audrey Budlong was a Running Start Student, a program with Bellevue College allowing high school juniors and seniors to earn college credits at the same time as high school credits. The program helped her earn an Associate of Science degree in Physics, Engineering and Atmospheric Science at the same time as she earned her high school diploma in 2019. The early exposure to STEM fields and research helped her pick a major in physics at UW and drove her to pursue quantum information science. She’s currently a second-year physics graduate student and an Accelerating Quantum Engineering and Technology (AQET) Fellow [link] in QuantumX.

Quantum computers have the potential to play a key role in achieving a clean energy future. For example, quantum computing could fast-track the development of new materials and processes for ultra-efficient energy production and storage. However, building a useful quantum computer is extremely difficult — it is not even currently clear which materials are best for creating quantum bits (qubits). To address this grand challenge, project co-PIs Matthew Yankowitz, Xiaodong Xu, Di Xiao, and Ting Cao propose an entirely new approach towards building topological qubits based upon atomically-thin “van der Waals” materials. Xu, Xiao, and Cao recently discovered rare quantum properties in stacked, slightly misaligned two-dimensional sheets of the semiconductor molybdenum ditelluride. These materials can be coupled with vdW superconductors to create unique particles with fractional electronic charges, known as parafermions, which if harnessed could be the backbone of a device for storing and processing quantum information.

Most of us don’t think of atoms as having their own unique vibrations, but they do. In fact, it’s a feature so fundamental to nature’s building blocks that a team of University of Washington researchers recently observed and used this phenomenon in their research study. By studying the light atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser, they were able to detect vibrations sometimes referred to as atomic “breathing.”

I-Tung Chen is a Ph.D. student in electrical & computer engineering where he works in the Laboratory of Photonic Systems and is an Accelerating Quantum Engineering and Technology (AQET) Fellow in QuantumX.

Lightning is seen much earlier than the thunder is heard because light travels nearly one million times faster than sound in air. In solid-state materials, however, the speed of sound increases while the speed of light slows down. Moreover, the acoustic wave traveling in the medium generates a periodic modulation of the medium’s optical properties, which can lead to strong interaction with the light traveling in the medium.

On Oct. 19, students in the Accelerating Quantum-Enabled Technologies program hosted the first UW Public Lecture in Quantum Science and Engineering, featuring IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research, Dario Gil. The College of Engineering and the College of Arts & Sciences also sponsored his lecture.

At a top-tier research institution like the UW, research doesn’t take a summer break. In addition to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, many College of Engineering labs host undergraduates during the summer months, giving the students a unique, hands-on experience conducting cutting-edge engineering research alongside faculty.