NRT-QL: Quantum Photonics interdisciplinary training to Advance Quantum Technologies (QPAQT)

Quantum photonics aims to harness the unique features of quantum mechanical systems to revolutionize future technologies in computing, communication, and sensing and deepen the understanding of the universe. It is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on photons, the elementary packets of light, in all three pillars of quantum technology- computing, communication, and sensing.

While the quantum photonics field is growing rapidly, graduate trainees in this field are still educated within the framework of traditional academic departments. This NSF Research Traineeship award to the University of New Mexico (UNM) will address the need for cross-disciplinary graduate training in quantum photonics for students with diverse undergraduate backgrounds.

The program will prepare 175 students, including 25 funded trainees, to become generalists in quantum technologies hardware. The tools and academic training provided will prepare trainees for a wide variety of careers in semiconductor and quantum technologies.

Quantum Photonics interdisciplinary training to Advance Quantum Technologies (QPAQT) will be led by a faculty team whose research interests are at the intersection between photonic science and quantum technology, with an emphasis on semiconductor and atomic, molecular, and optical physics device platforms. These research areas include quantum sensing, quantum networks, nonlinear quantum photonics, integrated photonics, and molecular qubits.

The team will have representation from the Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry departments and interdisciplinary units including the Center for High Technology Materials and Center for Quantum Information & Control. This project leverages UNM’s connections to national labs and semiconductor fabrication facilities near the university to prepare the trainees as the future workforce in semiconductor and quantum technologies.

As a flagship university in a state with a unique demographic profile, this program has a great potential to broaden participation. QPAQT’s four primary goals are: 1) professional development: trainees will develop an identity as quantum photonics researchers and effectively operate within the professional community; 2) academic achievement: trainees will acquire a broad base of knowledge, perform original research, and develop the skills needed to find employment in quantum photonics; 3) recruitment and retention from groups that are historically underserved: more than 50% of trainees will be women and/or races and ethnicities that are historically underserved; 4) program sustainability: QPAQT will operate effectively across departments and colleges and will be widely disseminated to the academic community.

Key training elements will include an interdisciplinary quantum photonics curriculum, individualized internal and external trainee mentorship, research rotations, internships at industry and national lab partners, a weekly professional development seminar, and peer mentorship in undergraduate outreach programs.

The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.  

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.