Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has opened the Quantum Underground Instrumentation Experimental Testbed, or QUIET, a quantum information science research center dedicated to the study of superconducting qubits and how various rays and particles affect them.
Because superconducting qubits are easily affected by their environment, including by cosmic radiation, QUIET is situated about 100 meters below Fermilab, thereby allowing for the study of the qubits in isolation, according to an article posted Wednesday on the Fermilab website.
Built as part of the National Quantum Initiative, QUIET has an area of 250 square feet, features a dilution refrigerator for deploying superconducting qubits and will come with radio frequency electronics for the control and readout of the qubits’ quantum states.
QUIET forms part of the Quantum Science Center. Its companion facility, LOUD, is also located at Fermilab, but is situated aboveground. The two feature the same electronics and dilution refrigeration and are differentiated mainly in terms of radiation shielding.
“Together, QUIET and LOUD will allow for controlled experiments with quantum sensors to make direct comparisons between an environment with significantly reduced cosmic ray interference and the ambient environment on Earth’s surface,” QSC Director Travis Humble said.
