Events

October 28, 2025

USC's second annual USC Quantum Technologies Forum, held on October 28, 2025, brought together more than 170 participants, including faculty and students, government representatives, and leaders from over 40 companies to explore the current state of quantum science and technology and discuss how Southern California is emerging as a leading hub for quantum research, education, and industry collaboration. JPL presented a summary of its quantum research efforts.

November 7, 2025

The California Governor’s Office, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), and the University of California, Office of the President (UCOP) sponsored a Quantum California Convening to kick-off off the statewide Quantum California Consortium on November 7, 2025, in Berkeley, CA. The consortium aligns university, research, industry, and government partners and will develop recommendations for a statewide quantum strategy and job-creation roadmap. JPL supported the panel discussions.

November 19, 2025

JPL, through its Quantum Space Innovation Center (QSIC), is a member of the Southern California Quantum Alliance. The vision of the Quantum Alliance is to establish Southern California as a global leader in quantum science, technology, and workforce development by driving transformative impact across research, industry, and society. Other members of the alliance include Caltech, USC, UCLA, UCSD, UCI, PCC, CSUSM, Boeing, Cisco, HRL, Aerospace Corp., IBM, DRS Daylight, and others. JPL and the Quantum Alliance members met at UCLA on November 19, 2025, to develop a proposal to the State of California Regional Investment Initiative (RII) for resources to enable a regional quantum network and enhance quantum workforce development.

February 20, 2026

JPL supported the Quantum Computing Student Association (QCSA) career fair at UCLA on Friday, February 20, 2026. JPL was one of several local exhibitors at the fair. The event hosted ~210 students, researchers, engineers, and scientists from 28 institutions from all over the world.

March 13, 2026

The California Governor’s Office, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), and the University of California, Santa Barbara sponsored a Quantum California Convening on March 13, 2026, in Santa Barbara, CA, hosted by the Eddleman Quantum Institute of UCSB. JPL supported the panel discussions on quantum workforce development. There were extensive tours of the UCSB Nanofabrication facility (Nanofab).

Dr. Dan Blumenthal/UCSB
Integrated Visible to SWIR Lasers and Photonics for Cold Atom and Trapped-Ion Quantum Sciences

Abstract: The atomic quantum sciences face challenges in scaling complexity, improved reliability, and reduction in size, weight and cost, related to lab-scale laser and optical infrastructure. This talk covers progress towards photonic integration and use in cold-atom and trapped-ion quantum experiments. Advances in atomic and quantum sciences have enabled new fundamental measurements, communications and computation that existed only in theory just decades ago. Today, these experiments and their applications are undergoing transformations that require a scaling up in complexity, greatly improved reliability, and reduction in size, weight and cost. Yet the underlying lasers and optical infrastructure still occupies laboratory tables and racks, are power consuming and not reliable. Photonic integration has the potential to move the laser systems and other photonics on chip. In this talk we cover moving high performance quantum and atom visible to SWIR light infrastructure and precision optics to the chip-scale and early experiments with this technology, including ultra-narrow linewidth and frequency stabilized lasers, reference cavities, ultra-low loss waveguides, and other optics to deliver precision laser light to atomic transitions and perform quantum experiments including strontium neutral and trapped ion and neutral rubidium species. Future prospects will be described for quantum sensing, computation, and communication.

Dr. Cris Panda/University of Arizona
Quantum metrology and sensing with an atomic spatial superposition state coherent for one minute

Abstract: Exceptional levels of quantum control and coherence are necessary for performing quantum metrology and sensing with the utmost precision. Atom interferometers are sensitive probes of fundamental physics, with applications ranging from the measurement of fundamental constants and tests of general relativity to the quantum sensing of gravity. Importantly, modern atom interferometers measure gravity and inertial effects in the field for geophysical, defense and industrial applications. However, the use of atoms in free fall has so far limited their measurement times to a few seconds.

Dr. Paul Kwiat/University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Quantum Sensing — It’s about time!

Abstract: Entangled photons have been known to have exquisite and even nonlocal time correlations. These can form the basis of new measurement tools, allowing photon arrivals to be measured with an accuracy of several attoseconds. Careful analysis of the photon arrival times also allows extraction of dynamically varying systems.  We’ll discuss some possible applications, from microscopy to remote sensing to clock synchronization.

Dr. Nelson Darkwah Oppong/Caltech
Quantum metrology with alkaline-earth atom arrays

Abstract: Arrays of alkaline-earth atoms offer optical-clock qubits with long coherence times, scalability to large qubit numbers, and tunable Rydberg-mediated interactions. These features provide an ideal setting for exploring how microscopic control and entanglement can improve the performance of optical atomic clocks beyond conventional limits. This talk will cover two efforts in this area: recent results from JILA demonstrating entanglement-enhanced optical-clock operation, and a brief introduction to a new effort at Caltech towards next-generation quantum metrology with neutral-atom arrays.

Dr. Matt Shaw/JPL
Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors

Abstract: Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPDs) are the most advanced detectors available for time-resolved single photon counting from the UV to the long-wavelength infrared. Recent advances in nanofabrication and multiplexing have enabled the ability to scale to large cameras of SNSPDs, to create fully digital event-driven single-photon cameras for time-resolved imaging. This enables transformative new capabilities in a wide range of scientific areas, including quantum computation, remote sensing, biomedical imaging, deep-space optical communication, and astronomy. In this talk, we will summarize recent progress toward megapixel-scale SNSPD cameras, and the path to scale these cameras up in the future.

Dr. Kanu Sinha/U. Arizona
The Arizona Quantum Bootcamp: creating quantum foundations for the students of Arizona

Abstract: The Arizona Quantum Bootcamp is a collaborative Arizona-wide effort created to advance quantum educational pathways across multiple institutions of Arizona. As foundational ideas such as quantum superposition and entanglement move from abstract theory into real-world quantum technologies, the demand for a broadly trained and interdisciplinary quantum workforce has accelerated, outpacing traditional curricula. The Arizona Quantum Bootcamp aims to provide a multidisciplinary training ground for the `quantum-curious' undergraduate students of Arizona.

Dr. Nick Hutzler/Caltech
Quantum-Controlled Molecules for Fundamental Physics and Quantum Science

Abstract: Quantum-controlled molecules have emerged as a promising platform for studies of fundamental physics, chemistry, and quantum science. The rich internal structure of molecules offers many opportunities compared to atoms, but navigating their complex structures remains a challenge; for this reason, most studies have so far used diatomic molecules. Our group uses polyatomic molecules, whose additional degrees of freedom can be engineered to simultaneously realize combinations of features not available in simpler species. In this talk I will discuss three relevant advances in this area. First, we have engineered transitions in polyatomic YbOH to search for fundamental symmetry violations with robustness against noise and errors. Second, we have synthesized, cooled, and performed high resolution spectroscopy on several radium-containing molecules which offer large enhancements of fundamental nuclear physics effects. Finally, we discuss a new approach to rapid, broadband, high resolution optical spectroscopy with radicals, which can be used to map out dozens of molecular bands in a few hours.

Dr. Shimon Kolkowitz/UC Berkeley
Tabletop tests of relativity with a miniature network of optical atomic clocks

Abstract: The remarkable precision of optical atomic clocks offers sensitivity to new and exotic physics through tests of relativity, searches for dark matter, gravitational wave detection, and probes for beyond Standard Model particles. While much of optical clock research has focused on improving their absolute accuracy, many searches for new physics can be performed with relative comparisons between clocks. To this end, we have realized a “multiplexed” strontium optical lattice clock consisting of two or more clocks in one vacuum chamber, forming a miniature clock network. This enables us to bypass the primary limitations to typical atomic clock comparisons and to achieve new levels of precision, enabling us to perform novel tests of relativity in the lab.

Date: January 7th, 2025
Location: JPL