Sandia Labs FY22 Laboratory Directed Research & Development Annual Report

FY22 ANNUAL REPORT

LDRD IMPACT STORY LDRD-ENABLED QUANTUM RESEARCH PUSHING S&T FRONTIERS,

BENEFITTING MULTIPLE MISSIONS. Sandia built a world-leading program in quantum information science (QIS) with aggressive and targeted LDRD investments. The current program supports many different applications (computing, sensing, communications, and networking), platforms (silicon, trapped ions, trapped atoms, diamond defects), and is supported by the DOE Office of Science, NNSA, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and other government agencies.

This work has been augmented by investments made by other government agencies, most notably IARPA, which funded the Ion Trap Foundry that uses Sandia’s Microsystems Engineering, Science and Applications (MESA) facilities to fabricate ion traps for quantum computing applications that are distributed worldwide. Smaller LDRD investments have also made big impacts in pushing the frontiers of what is possible. For example, the Quantum Optimization and Approximation Algorithms project (funded by the Computing and Information Systems Investment Area, 2016-2018) developed some of the first rigorous quantum advantages for approximating discrete optimization problems, producing new quantum approximation algorithms for the well-known Maximum Cut problem. The work has resulted in external investments through high-exposure multi-institutional projects and gone on to revitalize the field of quantum approximation algorithms, resulting in several high-profile Sandia led publications. A New Approach to Entangling Neutral Atoms (Nanodevices and Microsystems Investment Area, 2014-2016) demonstrated advanced neutral-atom quantum computing/

Quantum bits of information, or qubits, have the potential to make powerful calculations that classical bits can’t make. (Image by Michael Vittitow)

Four Grand Challenge LDRD investments were pivotal in enabling existing quantum information science capabilities: Quantum Information Science and Technology (2008-2010) focused on developing silicon quantum dots and architectures; Adiabatic Quantum Architectures in Ultracold Systems (2011 2013) developed adiabatic architectures, advanced lithography, and neutral atom computing; Sandia Enabled Communications and Authentication Network using Quantum Key Distribution (2014 2016) focused on quantum key distribution on a chip; and Strategic Inertial Guidance with Matterwaves (2018-2020) advanced capabilities in quantum positional sensing.

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Quantum physicist Tim Proctor is a recent recipient of a DOE Early Career Research Award. Read more about him here.