IRIS Adlershof expanded its spectrum towards a new field of research in Quantum Technology. The foundation for this was laid in the previous reporting period through IRIS founding member O. Benson and S. Ramelow, who has been with IRIS Adlershof since 2016, and who recently published a highly recognized article in Science Advances, describing the first infrared based microscope with quantum light.

In 2018, this undertaking was further advanced by the granting and participation of Benson’s and Ramelow’s working groups in the joint project Quantum Link Expansion (Q.Link.X) that is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. In Q.Link.X researchers explore the key technology of quantum repeaters. Since 24 partners from research institutions from universities to industrial laboratories are driving Q.Link.X together, this project strengthens the national standing of IRIS Adlershof and the HU on the scientific landscape.

Quantum computers are seen as one of the key technologies of the 21st century. Can they revolutionize the computational capacity of computers? Which new insights do they offer for high energy physics or quantum chemistry? These are the questions on which the first Einstein Research Unit (ERU) of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) will be focusing. The interdisciplinary research team of the partners Free University of Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technical University of Berlin and Charité - Universitätsmedizin, which includes IRIS Adlershof members Prof. Dr. Oliver Benson and Dr. Tim Schröder, has made it its task to explore the potential of the quantum digital transformation. They will combine expertise in theoretical and experimental physics, applied mathematics, computer science and machine learning in a unique way. The Einstein Research Unit „Perspectives of a quantum digital transformation: Near-term quantum computational devices and quantum processors“ will initially receive two million Euros in funding over the next three years.