Question

India is getting serious about building her own technology base and the upcoming National Quantum Mission could be a game changer in multiple sectors, from defence, energy, and environment to healthcare and civil applications. Any technology is first devised and then thrives on material innovation, and quantum technology is no exception. For India, investments in quantum materials and devices promise far more dividends than meets the eye . The process can generate a cadre of highly skilled workforce. As India gears to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027, a strongly networked material infrastructure in the country will be crucial. It will cater to not just quantum technologies but also other major scientific megaprojects ranging from the semiconductor mission to neutrino observatory and gravitational wave detection. The infrastructure will play a key role in building self-reliance in the energy and electronics industries. Quantum materials are a class of matter or systems that allow us to exploit some of the unique properties of quantum physics and accomplish tasks that classical technology is incapable of. The concept of “quantum materials” was originally introduced to identify some of the exotic quantum systems, including unconventional superconductors, heavy-fermion systems, and multifunctional oxides. It has now morphed into a powerful unifying concept across diverse fields of science and engineering, including solid-state physics, cold atoms (atoms cooled to close to absolute zero whereby their quantum mechanical properties are unveiled), materials science, and quantum computing. R&D in quantum materials today embraces traditional semiconductors, superconductors, and non-linear optical crystals directly relevant to computing, communication, and sensing. It also encompasses materials built on the complex interaction between charge and atoms, those that are products of the uniqueness in the geometric phase of the quantum wave functions, as well as materials that are a creation of the more “hidden” properties of quantum physics, such as quantum entanglement. Research on new architectures to incorporate quantum materials into functional units has progressed simultaneously, leading to the concept of “quantum devices”. New paradigms of ultrafast transistors and optoelectronics components as well as non-volatile memory and sensing devices are becoming enabling vehicles for quantum applications. A strong emphasis on quantum materials and devices is an integral component of any quantum technology mission. Upstream in the innovation pipeline, materials’ experts play important roles in developing new or upgrading current methods for precision synthesis, scalable yield, and stable performance. Research will be required to develop low-loss materials for superconducting quantum electronics that preserve quantum information over a long period, novel semiconductor nanostructures for the high-brightness source of entangled photons, and much more. The impact of much of the research cuts across multiple verticals of quantum technologies, and this necessitates dedicated and centralized material/device infrastructures. This will allow streamlining the material and device requirements for the core quantum technology verticals of the mission — building infrastructure for new materials and devices with in-house R&D, synergizing the diverse and geographically distributed material workforce in India to achieve mission deliverables, and ensuring efficient resource utilization as well as minimizing redundancy and duplication. The quantum materials and devices component of the National Quantum Mission will bring innovation in the field under a common umbrella.