Now on everybody’s radar, quantum tech hits its ‘sweet spot’

Quantum science has come of age and is now essential to people who work in areas far removed from quantum physics.

Facilities such as the new qubit foundry are vital to accelerate quantum computer research, the University of Sydney’s Stephen Bartlett says.

Quantum science has come of age and is now essential to many people who work in areas far removed from quantum physics, according to chief scientist Cathy Foley.

Speaking to the Quantum Australia conference in Sydney yesterday, Dr Foley said that quantum was now “on the radar of investors, government and our forward thinking businesses who understand how transformative it will be in so many areas”.

She said that key industries were already being transformed by quantum technologies, naming finance, mining, mapping, measurement, transport and logistics. “There are the first cabs off the rank,” she said.

Coinciding with the conference, the University of Sydney announced it would spend $7.4 million to expand the quantum research facilities in its nanoscience hub setting up a Future Qubit Foundry – an investment in the development of quantum computers.

New equipment in the foundry will enable researchers to work on building superconducting qubits, one of the many approaches that experimenters are taking to building qubits – the building blocks of quantum computers.

Stephen Bartlett, the associate dean (research) in the university’s science faculty, said the foundry would help ensure that “Sydney is one of the world’s best places to research quantum technology”. He said that researchers needed to explore new ways to build quantum computers and find ways to produce components at scale.

“That’s why it’s so vital to invest now into facilities like this to accelerate qubit research,” he said.

The foundry will also be available to be used by private sector firms working in quantum technology.

If quantum computers prove they can be successfully operated at scale they will spur huge advances in chemical formulation (including drug design), crypto-graphy and engineering by undertaking calculations and modelling which is not currently possible with conventiona, or classical, computers.

University of Sydney deputy vice chancellor (research) Emma Johnston, who was also a speaker at the quantum conference, said that the university’s work in this area would deliver tangible benefits to the Australian economy and “lock us into global supply chains as quantum computers come into their own”.

Dr Foley foreshadowed the federal government’s National Quantum Strategy which will be released in coming weeks and told the conference that Australia was in a sweet spot on quantum technology. “We have excellent foundations built on decades of patient fundamental research funded by government,” she said.

The public was now widely away of it, she said. “Quantum has entered the lexicon, not only of people working in the area but for fans of Marvel movies,” Dr Foley joked.

“We need to widen the conversation so that educators, businesses, and researchers in other disciplines understand how these new technologies will impact what they do.

‘We are living the quantum revolution and its important the broader community understands that.”

She said that there was already better imaging in medicine because of quantum technologies and “they’re are changing our ability to see through barriers into structures such as geological formations “.

The conference was organised by the Sydney Quantum Academy which is a partnership of four universities – Macquarie, UNSW, Sydney and UTS – and the NSW government to promote the use of quantum technologies and develop talent in the field.