Manchester's £12.6m MEAD programme aims to build quantum tech one atom at a time

[Taker04]

The University of Manchester has published more detail on its £12.6 million Materials Engineering for Advanced Devices programme, known as MEAD. Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, it aims to engineer materials with atomic precision for quantum computing, secure communications and sensing. Professor Richard Curry leads it, with partners at Imperial College London and the University of Leeds. We covered the 20 nanometre atom placement result the other day, but the university's own page shows how much wider the programme is

There are three main strands. The first is building the basic components for quantum devices, including sensors, single photon sources and arrays for quantum computing. The second is creating tools to understand materials at the atomic scale. The third, which I had not seen mentioned before, is developing maser technology for troposcatter communications with Imperial and Leeds

The team is quite large, with Dr Jayadev Vijayan on quantum sensors, Dr Huanqing Ye on single photon sources, Professor Sarah Haigh on imaging, Dr Jessica Boland on optical characterisation and Dr Katie Moore on nanoSIMS verification. The new funding builds on more than £150 million of existing infrastructure at Manchester. That includes the P-NAME platform, which places single atoms with 20 nanometre precision, plus a dilution refrigerator facility and specialist imaging kit

Isotopic engineering is one of the more interesting techniques mentioned. By choosing specific isotopes of an element, researchers can fine tune quantum properties and reduce noise. Combined with precise placement, that gives them a lot of control over how a device behaves

Curry says MEAD will deliver technologies that matter for national security, sensing and the future of quantum computing. The national security mention and the troposcatter work suggest defence interest is part of this. Does anyone know much about masers? I had to look up what troposcatter communication even was

Building quantum technologies one atom at a timewww.manchester.ac.uk

[RightNutter]

A dedicated nanoSIMS verification role shows how seriously they take checking results. Measuring is half the battle at this scale

[Starfield Wolfhound]

Isotopic engineering is clever. Silicon 28, for example, has no nuclear spin, so it makes a much quieter environment for qubits. Purifying it has been a big step for silicon quantum devices

Pairing that with atom by atom placement gives you a very controlled material. That is exactly what reliable qubits need. Manchester seems well placed to deliver it

[Beth]

Masers are like lasers but for microwaves, and they have been around longer than lasers. For decades they needed extreme cooling, which limited their use. Room temperature masers have been a research focus in the UK for a while

Troposcatter bounces radio signals off the lower atmosphere to reach beyond the horizon. The military uses it where satellites are not an option

[Poppy5]

Defence interest is not surprising. Quantum sensing and secure communications are obvious military priorities, and the funding reflects that. As long as the civilian applications get developed too, I do not mind where the money comes from

[Red Piston]

Twelve point six million on top of £150 million of existing kit is a sensible way to spend research money. Using facilities that already exist gets far more out of each pound. Too often new grants fund new buildings instead of research

[FairDos47]

Having Imperial and Leeds involved spreads the expertise nicely. UK quantum research works best when universities collaborate rather than compete. Hopefully a spin out company or two comes out of this. Leeds brings strong photonics expertise too