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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Solid neon as a noise-resilient host for electron qubits above 100 mK

Solid neon can be used as a solid host for single-electron qubits. At temperatures of around 10 mK, electron-on-solid-neon charge qubits exhibit long coherence times and high operation fidelities. However, a systematic characterization of the noise features of such systems is needed for the development of scalable quantum information architectures. Here, in this work, we show that solid neon can be used as a noise-resilient host for electron qubits above 100 mK. We examine the resilience of solid neon against charge and thermal noise when electron-on-solid-neon charge qubits are operated away from the charge-insensitive sweet spot and at elevated temperatures. We show that the extracted high-frequency charge noise density of electron-on-solid-neon qubits, projected as voltage fluctuations on nearby electrodes, is between 10 −4 μV 2 Hz −1 and 10 −6 μV 2 Hz −1 at 0.01 MHz to 1 MHz, which is comparable to common semiconductor hosts. We also show that the electron-on-solid-neon charge qubits operating at frequencies of around 5 GHz can maintain echo coherence times of over 1 μs at temperatures up to 400 mK.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Quantitative Dissection of Agrobacterium Virulence to Generate a Synthetic Ti Plasmid

Agrobacterium is not only a costly plant pathogen but is also an essential tool for plant transformation. Though Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (AMT) has been heavily studied, its polygenic nature and complex transcriptional regulation make identification of the genetic basis of transformational efficiency difficult through traditional genetic and bioinformatic approaches. Here, we use a bottom-up synthetic approach to systematically engineer the tumor-inducing plasmid (pTi), wherein the majority of virulence machinery is encoded. Using a validated toolkit to control Agrobacterium gene expression in planta, we perform a quantitative dissection of AMT to investigate the contributions of critical vir-genes at different expression levels. We construct a synthetic pTi capable of transient plant and stable fungal transformation and characterize bottlenecks and solutions for complex polygenic synthetic pTi designs. Our reductionist approach demonstrates how bottom-up engineering can be used to dissect and elucidate the genetic underpinnings of complex biological traits, laying the foundation for future engineering to establish full synthetic control over the critical process of AMT.

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation↗
DOE OSTI2024

Confinement of excited states in two-dimensional, in-plane, quantum heterostructures

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are promising candidates for optoelectronic application and quantum information processes due to their inherent out-of-plane 2D confinement. In addition, they offer the possibility of achieving low-dimensional in-plane exciton confinement, similar to zero-dimensional quantum dots, with intriguing optical and electronic properties via strain or composition engineering. However, realizing such laterally confined 2D monolayers and systematically controlling size-dependent optical properties remain significant challenges. Here, we report the observation of lateral confinement of excitons in epitaxially grown in-plane MoSe 2 quantum dots (~15-60 nm wide) inside a continuous matrix of WSe 2 monolayer film via a sequential epitaxial growth process. Various optical spectroscopy techniques reveal the size-dependent exciton confinement in the MoSe 2 monolayer quantum dots with exciton blue shift (12-40 meV) at a low temperature as compared to continuous monolayer MoSe 2 . Finally, single-photon emission (g 2 (0) ~ 0.4) was also observed from the smallest dots at 1.6 K. Our study opens the door to compositionally engineered, tunable, in-plane quantum light sources in 2D semiconductors.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Isotope engineering for spin defects in van der Waals materials

Abstract Spin defects in van der Waals materials offer a promising platform for advancing quantum technologies. Here, we propose and demonstrate a powerful technique based on isotope engineering of host materials to significantly enhance the coherence properties of embedded spin defects. Focusing on the recently-discovered negatively charged boron vacancy center ($${{{{{{{{\rm{V}}}}}}}}}_{{{{{{{{\rm{B}}}}}}}}}^{-}$$ V B − ) in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), we grow isotopically purified h 10 B 15 N crystals. Compared to$${{{{{{{{\rm{V}}}}}}}}}_{{{{{{{{\rm{B}}}}}}}}}^{-}$$ V B − in hBN with the natural distribution of isotopes, we observe substantially narrower and less crowded$${{{{{{{{\rm{V}}}}}}}}}_{{{{{{{{\rm{B}}}}}}}}}^{-}$$ V B − spin transitions as well as extended coherence timeT 2 and relaxation timeT 1 . For quantum sensing,$${{{{{{{{\rm{V}}}}}}}}}_{{{{{{{{\rm{B}}}}}}}}}^{-}$$ V B − centers in our h 10 B 15 N samples exhibit a factor of 4 (2) enhancement in DC (AC) magnetic field sensitivity. For additional quantum resources, the individual addressability of the$${{{{{{{{\rm{V}}}}}}}}}_{{{{{{{{\rm{B}}}}}}}}}^{-}$$ V B − hyperfine levels enables the dynamical polarization and coherent control of the three nearest-neighbor 15 N nuclear spins. Our results demonstrate the power of isotope engineering for enhancing the properties of quantum spin defects in hBN, and can be readily extended to improving spin qubits in a broad family of van der Waals materials.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nonperturbative Lorentz violation and field quantization

Regimes of Lorentz-violating effective field theories are studied in which departures from Lorentz symmetry are nonperturbative. Within a free toy theory exhibiting Lorentz breakdown involving an operator of mass dimension three, it is shown that conventional methods suffice to achieve field quantization and Fock-space construction. However, the absence of an observer-invariant energy-positivity condition requires physical input beyond the free theory for the unambiguous identification of a ground state. An investigation of the role of thermodynamics in this context is instigated.

Ground state↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dissipative ground state preparation in ab initio electronic structure theory

Dissipative engineering is a powerful tool for quantum state preparation, and has drawn significant attention in quantum algorithms and quantum many-body physics in recent years. In this work, we introduce a novel approach using the Lindblad dynamics to efficiently prepare the ground state for general ab initio electronic structure problems on quantum computers, without variational parameters. These problems often involve Hamiltonians that lack geometric locality or sparsity structures, which we address by proposing two generic types of jump operators for the Lindblad dynamics. Type-I jump operators break the particle number symmetry and should be simulated in the Fock space. Type-II jump operators preserves the particle number symmetry and can be simulated more efficiently in the full configuration interaction space. For both types of jump operators, we prove that in a simplified Hartree-Fock framework, the spectral gap of our Lindbladian is lower bounded by a universal constant. For physical observables such as energy and reduced density matrices, the convergence rate of our Lindblad dynamics with Type-I jump operators remains universal, while the convergence rate with Type-II jump operators only depends on coarse grained information such as the number of orbitals and the number of electrons. To validate our approach, we employ a Monte Carlo trajectory-based algorithm for simulating the Lindblad dynamics for full ab initio Hamiltonians, demonstrating its effectiveness on molecular systems amenable to exact wavefunction treatment.

Quantum chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2024

cclib 2.0: An updated architecture for interoperable computational chemistry

Interoperability in computational chemistry is elusive, impeded by the independent development of software packages and idiosyncratic nature of their output files. The cclib library was introduced in 2006 as an attempt to improve this situation by providing a consistent interface to the results of various quantum chemistry programs. The shared API across programs enabled by cclib has allowed users to focus on results as opposed to output and to combine data from multiple programs or develop generic downstream tools. Initial development, however, did not anticipate the rapid progress of computational capabilities, novel methods, and new programs; nor did it foresee the growing need for customizability. Here, we recount this history and present cclib 2, focused on extensibility and modularity. We also introduce recent design pivots—the formalization of cclib’s intermediate data representation as a tree-based structure, a new combinator-based parser organization, and parsed chemical properties as extensible objects.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Physical interpretation of large Lorentz violation via Weyl semimetals

The physical intepretation of effective field theories of fundamental interactions incorporating large Lorentz violation is a long-standing challenge, known as the concordance problem. In condensed-matter physics, certain Weyl semimetals with emergent Lorentz invariance exhibit large Lorentz violation, thereby offering prospective laboratory analogues for exploration of this issue. We take advantage of the mathematical equivalence between the descriptions of large Lorentz violation in fundamental and condensed-matter physics to investigate the primary aspects of the concordance problem, which arise when the coefficients for Lorentz violation are large or the observer frame is highly boosted. Using thermodynamic arguments, we present a physical solution to the concordance problem and explore some implications.

Lorentz violation↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimizing the critical temperature and superfluid density of a metal-superconductor bilayer

A promising path to realizing higher superconducting transition temperatures 𝑇 c is the strategic engineering of artificial heterostructures. For example, quantum materials could, in principle, be coupled with other materials to produce a more robust superconducting state. Here, in this work, we add numerical support to the hypothesis that a strongly interacting superconductor weakened by phase fluctuations can boost its 𝑇 c by hybridizing the system with a metal. Using determinant quantum Monte Carlo, we simulate a two-dimensional bilayer composed of an attractive Hubbard model and a metallic layer in two regimes of the interaction strength −|𝑈|. In the strongly interacting regime, we find that increasing the interlayer hybridization 𝑡 ⊥ results in a nonmonotonic enhancement of 𝑇 c , with an optimal value comparable to the maximum 𝑇 c observed in the single-layer attractive Hubbard model, confirming trends inferred from other approaches. In the intermediate coupling regime, when −|𝑈| is close to the value associated with the maximum 𝑇 c of the single-layer model, increasing 𝑡 ⊥ tends to decrease 𝑇 c , implying that the correlated layer was already optimally tuned. Importantly, we demonstrate that the mechanism behind these trends is related to enhancement in the superfluid stiffness, as was initially proposed by Kivelson [Phys. B: Condens. Matter 318, 61 (2002)].

Zhang, Yutan [Univ. of California, Davis, CA (Unit↗
DOE OSTI2024

Giant optical second- and third-order nonlinearities at a telecom wavelength

A material platform that excels in both optical second- and third-order nonlinearities at a telecom wavelength is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated. In this TiN-based coupled metallic quantum well structure, electronic subbands are engineered to support doubly resonant inter-subband transitions for an exceptionally high second-order nonlinearity and provide single-photon transitions for a remarkable third-order nonlinearity within the 1400–1600 nm bandwidth. The second-order susceptibility χ (2) reaches 2840 pm/V at 1440 nm, while the Kerr coefficient n 2 arrives at 2.8 × 10 −10 cm 2 /W at 1460 nm. The achievement of simultaneous strong second- and third-order nonlinearities in one material at a telecom wavelength creates opportunities for multi-functional advanced applications in the field of nonlinear optics.

Chen, Ching-Fu (ORCID:0000000262510722)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Research Reactors Division Infrastructure Investment Plan for the High Flux Isotope Reactor

The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) is a unique national asset. Operational for nearly 60 years, continued investment into the aging infrastructure is necessary to ensure operation for another 6 decades. Additionally, growing missions require HFIR as well as important upgrades. Consequently, carefully integrated planning is required to ensure that infrastructure investments are timely executed to ensure long-term, reliable operation of HFIR. Concerns about challenges to the operational reliability of HFIR resulted in a recommendation from the 2023 Operations Review by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences that a HFIR management strategy be developed to address the infrastructure needs. This report defines the investment needs, which are evolving as new upgrade efforts are better defined. HFIR is part of the three-source strategy within the Neutron Sciences Directorate (NScD) and contributes to the five strategic science areas outlined in the NScD 10 Year Strategic Science Plan: quantum materials, soft matter, materials and engineering, chemistry, and biosciences. Fundamental to this strategy are three core values: operational excellence, responsible stewardship, and servant leadership. These values guide our mission of safe and reliable operation of the reactor and require a strong and just nuclear safety culture, a solemn respect for responsible care of the facility, good workforce development, robust procedures and processes, an effective communication strategy, world-class asset management, a determined customer focus, and a commitment to protecting the environment, the safety and health of the public and our people, and the quality of work performed within our facility. These principles are all essential to operate HFIR at a world-class level. The Research Reactors Division (RRD) will lead a new era of neutron science and isotope production at HFIR through responsible and purposeful leadership and unwavering support of the science community. The approach outlined in this plan highlights the direction leadership is taking to ensure that HFIR is ready to support the science challenges and national needs of the future and that the United States maintains world leadership in neutron sciences. The plan is in alignment with the DOE’s desire to continue operating HFIR and with the NScD strategic science goals for the future. HFIR is an aging facility with numerous infrastructure challenges and needs. It has an aging workforce in relation to the general population of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with many expected retirements over the next 5–10 years. With an increase in work scope caused by changing national priorities and science goals, several critical hires have been identified. To manage HFIR’s infrastructure needs, a prioritized list of equipment upgrades has been identified along with an analysis of future staffing requirements. A desire to operate HFIR at eight cycles per year will necessarily require some significant changes to procedures and processes currently in place as well as targeted staffing additions. Many of the equipment upgrades identified in this plan will significantly increase the reliability of the plant, thus contributing to the effort to reach the goal of safely operating eight cycles per year. A plan to attain eight-cycle operation is being prepared in parallel with the activities identified in this plan, although the actions identified to satisfy both plans will overlap. This plan identifies new infrastructure needs—for both plant equipment and staffing—thus necessitating formulation of future budget requests to fund the increased work scope and improvement activities. Some activities are currently being scheduled with the expectation that funding will be received. Any delays to funding or reductions of funding from the identified cost estimations will directly and negatively affect the plan’s implementation.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Quantum Zeno Control of Superconducting Qubit Coherence

The Quantum Zeno Effect (QZE) dictates how the dynamics of a quantum system can be modified through continuous or discrete measurements [1]. It has gained increasing attention in quantum computing community in recent years, both due to its inevitable implications for qubit readout as well as for its promise for enabling new methods of quantum state control such as reservoir engineering and Zeno-dragging. Here, we investigate Zeno effects implemented via weak measurements for controlling superconducting-qubit coherence during gate and readout operations in a multi-qubit setup. Building on prior observations [2] that measurement backaction can both suppress and enhance qubit relaxation, we predict and measure QZE-altered qubit coherence times by manipulating the spectral overlap of qubit spectrum with background noise sources. We also discuss modifications and opportunities for controllable QZE due to anharmonic effects in multi-level superconducting atoms. [1] S. Greenfield, A. Kamal, J. Dressel, E. Levenson-Falk, arXiv:2506.12679 (2025) [2] Thorbeck, Z. Xiao, L. Govia, A. Kamal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 090602 (2024)

Seidel, Olivia [Texas U., Arlington; Fermilab]↗
NASA NTRS1972

A summary of the research program in the broad field of electronics

Summary reports of research projects covering solid state materials, semiconductors and devices, quantum electronics, plasmas, applied electromagnetics, electrical engineering systems to include control communication, computer and power systems, biomedical engineering and mathematical biosciences.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2003

Using Proteins to Build Nanocomputers

How low can we go? This is the question challenging scientists who want to build ever-smaller electronic components. As famed physicist Richard Feynmann said in 1959, 'there is plenty of room at the bottom,' meaning at the atomic or nanometric scale. But even Feynmann could only guess at how we might eventually build things 'down there.' As current lithographic techniques for etching semiconductor circuits rapidly approach their physical limits, scientists are looking for new and less expensive ways to fabricate circuits at infinitesimally small scales. NASA scientists have discovered a new tool that may help accomplish this goal - proteins. The basic building blocks of life may be harnessed to build computers and sensors on the nanoscale. Proteins provide self-assembling structures that can be engineered to build ordered arrays of quantum dots.

Laufenberg, Larry↗
NASA NTRS2014

Q-Thruster Breadboard Campaign Project

Dr. Harold "Sonny" White has developed the physics theory basis for utilizing the quantum vacuum to produce thrust. The engineering implementation of the theory is known as Q-thrusters. During FY13, three test campaigns were conducted that conclusively demonstrated tangible evidence of Q-thruster physics with measurable thrust bringing the TRL up from TRL 2 to early TRL 3. This project will continue with the development of the technology to a breadboard level by leveraging the most recent NASA/industry test hardware. This project will replace the manual tuning process used in the 2013 test campaign with an automated Radio Frequency (RF) Phase Lock Loop system (precursor to flight-like implementation), and will redesign the signal ports to minimize RF leakage (improves efficiency). This project will build on the 2013 test campaign using the above improvements on the test implementation to get ready for subsequent Independent Verification and Validation testing at Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in FY 2015. Q-thruster technology has a much higher thrust to power than current forms of electric propulsion (~7x Hall thrusters), and can significantly reduce the total power required for either Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) or Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP). Also, due to the high thrust and high specific impulse, Q-thruster technology will greatly relax the specific mass requirements for in-space nuclear reactor systems. Q-thrusters can reduce transit times for a power-constrained architecture.

White, Harold↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Independent Technical Assessment of NASA and External Quantum Sensing Capability

The recent FY 2020 federal Research and Development Budget Priorities memo addresses the leadership need in Quantum Information Science (QIS) directing agencies to “prioritize QIS research and development (R&D), which will build the technical and scientific base necessary to explore the next generation of QIS theory, devices, and applications.” Quantum Sensing (QS) is an integral part of QIS. NASA is a key part of the directive to forward American space exploration and commercialization by providing “capabilities that have broad potential applications in space and on Earth.” QS provides an arena for NASA to demonstrate leadership in both areas of the administrative directive. QS uses quantum properties to achieve unprecedented measurement sensitivity and performance, including quantum-enhanced methodologies that outperform their classical counterparts. Typical quantum sensors exploit techniques such as atomic systems, matter waves, quantum entanglement, quantum superposition of states, quantum illumination methods, and manipulation of photons and atoms, in general. Guided by advancements in our ability to generate, manipulate, and control quantum systems, the emerging quantum sensing technologies promise unrivalled sensitivity, resolution, and precision, potentially leading to game-changing applications. Significant gains include technologies important for a range of NASA missions such as remote sensing, in situ measurements, metrology, interferometry, quantum communication, ranging, imaging, radar and lidar receivers, and gravity measurements. NASA Engineering and Safety Center has convened an independent external panel, comprising of Quantum Sensing Experts from Government, DoD, academia, and Federally funded Research and Development Center to conduct an independent technical assessment of the agency's capabilities in Quantum Sensing to understand NASA's internal needs and competencies related to Quantum Sensing and compare agency capabilities with those available externally including industry, academia, and other government agencies. The outcomes of the assessment will help the agency in establishing appropriate strategies and investments to develop and maintain the state-of-the-art sensing competence and capabilities required to meet the agency’s future needs. The External Experts Panel (EEP) is collaborating with HQ, various NASA Center and the representatives in the NASA Quantum Sensing Community of Practice (QS CoP), a part of NASA Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Fellow Technical Discipline Team, in obtaining common, current understanding of agency mission needs where QS can be an important enabler for future needs, and any programs, projects, assets, and technologists working in QS. The EEP organized a Quantum Sensing Workshop of practitioners from industry, academia, other government agencies, external experts, and interested NASA personnel to gather the assessment information. EEP also conducted information gathering on the industry at large, educational institutions, and other government agency research efforts for capture in the assessment database. At the conclusion of this assessment, EEP team will develop findings and conclusions describing NASA’s capabilities for the mission needs, NASA's relative position on new, enabling technologies, and an analysis of the gaps that may present any risks to near-term or far-term mission needs. This presentation will give details of the NASA and External Quantum Sensing Assessment outcomes, findings, observations, and its recommendation to NASA as how it can advance Quantum Sensing technologies and techniques for its science and explorations related missions.

External Quantum Sensing Capability↗