EQUATE: Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies

Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies EQUATE

NSF Award Announcement

Watch EQUATE Grant Celebration

A banner placed outside Jorgensen Hall with a photo of the EQUATE leaders that reads: Congrats to Nebraska EPSCoR-EQUATE on a $20M NSF Award.

EQUATE’s main research goal is to bring Nebraska to the forefront of scientific discoveries and innovation in the design, synthesis, growth, and use of materials and hybrid systems with large-scale quantum properties for applications in sensing, metrology, communication, and information processing.

This project focuses on research and workforce development to advance knowledge on topics related to quantum materials, technologies, and computation. Quantum materials are a new class of materials that exhibit quantum phenomena at macroscopic length scales and are expected to advance the technological landscape through the advent of quantum technologies. These new technologies will revolutionize fields such as information technology, medical technology, and cryptography, with an impact on security areas such as defense and banking.

EQUATE consolidates the quantum science and technology expertise of 20 faculty researchers across four Nebraska research institutions, establishing collaboration and feedback between theory and experiment to guide discoveries and expedite the findings of new emergent quantum materials and phenomena.

EQUATE News

EQUATE-funded paper published on back cover of Advanced Optical Materials

Abdelghani Laraoui and colleagues showed that when single photon emitters in thin hexagonal boron nitride flakes are brought in contact with silver nanocubes, their quantum properties are enhanced due to plasmonic effects, manifested by a decrease in their excited state lifetime, a narrowing of their spectra, and an increase of their fluorescence. The paper titled "Plasmon Enhanced Quantum Properties of Single Photon Emitters with Hybrid Hexagonal Boron Nitride Silver Nanocube Systems" was selected for the back cover of Advanced Optical Materials 11(16).

A copy of the back cover image from Advanced Optical Materials is on the right and a photo of the PI, Abdelghani Laraoui, is on the left.

"Quantum Approaches Addressing Global Threats" project earns $4.17M award from Grand Challenges initiative

Photo of Christian Binek on left with the text 'Quantum Approaches Addressing Global Threats' project wins $4.17M Catalyst Award on the right.

Quantum Leap: Kearney HS science teacher collabs with EQUATE faculty at UNK

UNK Assistant Professor of Physics Alex Wysocki (left) and Kearney High School chemistry teacher Alison Klein collaborate on quantum materials in the summer of 2023 via an “RET” (Research Experience for Teachers) funded by the National Science Foundation via Nebraska EPSCoR. Photo by University of Nebraska at Kearney.

EQUATE teams develop process to better see into nanoscale

Postdoctoral researcher Mohammadjavad Dowran works with diamond quantum sensing microscopes in Abdelghani Laraoui’s lab.

Subedi selected for prestigious AVS national student award

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Participating Institutions

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OIA-2044049. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.