Department of Energy renews $125M in funding to support quantum science and technology
University of Minnesota researchers will leverage center's cutting-edge technology to further discoveries in fundamental physics
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (12/01/2025) — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced a $125 million, five-year renewal for the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems (SQMS) Center, a national research center led by DOE's Fermilab. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities will play a critical role in leveraging the center's cutting-edge technology to further discoveries in fundamental physics.
The SQMS Center is one of five DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Centers established to ensure the U.S. remains a global leader in quantum computing, sensing and communication.
The University of Minnesota team, led by Zhen Liu, a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, has been a partner of the SQMS center since 2021. They are driving the theoretical and analytical framework for the quantum sensing program's flagship "Dark SRF" experiment. This experiment uses the center’s high-quality superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities—technologies originally developed for particle accelerators—to hunt for elusive hypothetical particles, such as dark photons.
"Our team at the University of Minnesota focuses on developing the theory, experimental protocols and data analysis strategies for these ultra-sensitive experiments," said Liu, the lead principal investigator for the center.
This University of Minnesota-led work has already produced significant, world-leading results, including:
- A landmark 2023 publication in Physical Review Letters, "Search for Dark Photons with Superconducting Radio Frequency Cavities," featured in a Fermilab news release.
- Recent theoretical work on "Modeling frequency instability in high-quality resonant experiments (under peer review)" enabled "Improved Dark Photon Sensitivity from the Dark SRF Experiment (under peer review)," which now provides the best laboratory-based constraints on the mass of the photon.
- Novel proposals for dark matter detection using magnetically levitated sensors, detailed in Physical Review D publications on "Maglev for dark matter" and "Ultralight dark matter detection with levitated ferromagnets."
"We are leveraging the unparalleled sensitivity of SQMS's technologies to search for new physics," added Liu. "This continued partnership not only advances fundamental science but also solidifies Minnesota's role in interdisciplinary research in high-energy physics, material science, and quantum information science."
The next phase, "SQMS 2.0," will focus on developing and deploying beyond-state-of-the-art quantum systems. Key goals include building a super-advanced quantum processor with over 100 quibits–basic units of quantum information; searching for new materials to make the core components of a quantum computer can hold onto their quantum information for a longer amount of time; and design the infrastructure for future quantum networks–a quantum data center unit.
The SQMS collaboration unites 36 partners from national labs, universities and industry, and is foundational to U.S. competitiveness in quantum technology. By bridging the gap between fundamental science and engineering, the center is creating a path toward a future quantum internet and quantum-centric supercomputing.
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