Skip to main content

UCF Quantum Initiative

About Us

The UCF Quantum Initiative brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts working on diverse aspects of quantum technologies – from algorithms for quantum computing and error correction to integrated quantum photonics, quantum metasurfaces, quantum transduction, and solid-state quantum bits – with the unifying goal of exploring and developing solutions for interoperability across platforms and scales and a strong determination to build a competitive workforce in quantum information science and technology (QIST).

Focus Areas

Multiple diagrams of quantum states of light with nanoscale patterned quantum materials.
Sculpturing quantum states of light with nanoscale patterned quantum materials (A. Khanikaev)

Research Topics:

  • Quantum metasurfaces
  • Robust entangled states in integrated photonics
  • Quantum communications
  • Single-photon detectors
  • Single photon sources

Researchers:

  • Ayman Abouraddy
  • Miguel Bandres
  • Andrea Blanco-Redondo
  • Sasan Fathpour
  • Darren Hudson
  • Alexander Khanikaev
  • Michael Leuenberger
  • Leland Nordin
  • Midya Parto
  • Wayesh Qarony
  • Yannick Salamin
A diagram of a hybrid magnetic quantum processor.
Hybrid magnetic quantum processor (J. Xu)

Research Topics:

  • Superconducting, magnetic, and defect-based qubits
  • Coherent control of quantum states via ultrafast lasers
  • Hybrid optical/electrical/mechanics quantum systems
  • Quantum transduction

Researchers:

  • Jaesung Lee
  • Haonan Ling
  • Wayesh Qarony
  • Enrique del Barco
  • Masahiro Ishigami
  • Christian Heide
  • Jing Xu
  • Han Zhao
A diagram of dynamical quantum circuit for preparing a target unitary.
Dynamical quantum circuit for preparing a target unitary (S. Niu)

Research Topics:

  • Quantum algorithm development and testing
  • Quantum error correction protocols
  • Quantum-inspired algorithms and technologies
  • Quantum simulations
  • Post-quantum cryptography

Researchers:

  • Zhipeng Deng
  • Wissam Ghantous
  • Eduardo Mucciolo
  • Siyuan Niu
  • Di Wu
  • Qipeng Zheng
An illustration of dirac cones and a nodal line.
Dirac cones and a nodal line (M. Neupane)

Research Topics:

  • Emergent phenomena in van der Waals quantum matter
  • Topological quantum magnets in van der Waals materials
  • Quantum spin textures (quantum skyrmions)
  • Topological superconductors
  • Dirac and Weyl semimetals

Researchers:

  • Paulo de Faria
  • Enrique del Barco
  • Michael Leuenberger
  • Saiful Khondaker
  • Yasuyuki Nakashima
  • Madhab Neupane

Team

Leadership Team

  • Eduardo Mucciolo
    Leader
    Physics
  • Andrea Blanco-Redondo
    Co-Leader
    CREOL

Research Team

  • Ayman Abouraddy
    CREOL
  • Miguel Bandres
    CREOL
  • Paulo de Faria
    Physics/ECE
  • Enrique del Barco
    Physics
  • Zhipeng Deng
    MAE
  • Sasan Fathpour
    CREOL
  • Wissam Ghantous
    Math
  • Christian Heide
    Physics/CREOL
  • Darren Hudson
    CREOL
  • Masahiro Ishigami
    Physics
  • Eric Johnson
    CREOL
  • Alexander Khanikaev
    CREOL
  • Saiful Khondaker
    NSTC/Physics
  • Jaesung Lee
    ECE
  • Michael Leuenberger
    NSTC/Physics/CREOL
  • Haonan Ling
    MAE
  • Yasuyuki Nakajima
    Physics
  • Madhab Neupane
    Physics
  • Siyuan Niu
    ECE
  • Leland Nordin
    CREOL/MSE
  • Midya Parto
    CREOL
  • Wayesh Qarony
    ECE/Physics
  • Yannick Salamin
    CREOL
  • Di Wu
    ECE
  • Jing Xu
    Physics
  • Han Zhao
    Physics
  • Qipeng Zheng
    IEMS

Publications

Publication
L. Turo, B. E. A. Saleh, and A. F. Abouraddy, Local and remote synthesis of single-photon space-time wave packets, preprint (2025).2025
L. Turo, L. A. Hall, B. E. A. Saleh, and A. F. Abouraddy, Broadband entangled-photon omni-resonance in planar optical cavities, preprint (2025).2025
D A. Jeff, R. Sharma, G. Marciaga, F. Gonzalez, K. Harrison, Y. Zhao, T. Fernando, M. Neupane, J. Yang, J-H. Chu, X. Xu, T. Cao, and S. I. Khondaker, Lattice dynamics of layered kagome lattice material Nb3Br8 investigated via Raman spectroscopy and DFT, Nanoscale 2025, DOI: 10.1039/D5NR03318G2025
D. Skachkov, D. R. Englund, and M. N. Leuenberger, Linear and nonlinear optical response based on the GW-Bethe-Salpeter and Kadanoff-Baym approaches for two-dimensional layered semiconductor materials, arXiv:2509.18409 (2025). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2410.062182025
J. M. DeStefano, E. Rosenberg, G. Ren, Y, Lee, Z. Ning, O. Peek, K. Harrison, S. I. Khondaker, L. Ke, I. I. Mazin, J. C. Idrobo, J.-H. Chu, Giant coercivity and enhanced intrinsic anomalous Hall effect at vanishing magnetization in a compensated kagome ferrimagnet, Science Advances, 11, edax4671 (2025)2025
U. E. Usturali, C. Chamon, A. E. Ruckenstein, and E. R. Mucciolo, A matrix product state representation of Boolean functions, preprint (2025). https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.0192025
D. Wu, Syndrilla: Simulating Decoders for Quantum Error Correction using PyTorch, QCE 2025 (2025).2025
M. Yessenov, A. Dorrah, C. Guo, L. A. Hall, J.-S. Park, J. Free, E. G. Johnson, F. Capasso, S. Fan, and A. F. Abouraddy, Ultrafast space-time optical merons in momentum-energy space, Nature Communications, in press (2025).2025
E. R. Mucciolo, Introduction to Quantum Information Processing (Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, 2025). https://doi.org/10.1201/97810034851242025
S. Niu, et al., A Practical Framework for Assessing the Performance of Observable Estimation in Quantum Simulation, IEEE Quantum Week (2025). https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.098132025
S. Pontula, C. Roques-Carmes, M. Soljačić, and Y. Salamin, Long-Range Entanglement in Multimode Comb Systems via Cascaded Nonlinear Processes, Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), Long Beach, CA, USA (2025).2025
S. Guddala, S. Kiriushechkina, Y. Kawaguchi, A. Vakulenko, A. Smirnova, S. B. Chand, Hobuss Edda M., G. Grosso, A. Alù, and A. B. Khanikaev, Topological Polaritonic Metamaterials Realized in Bulk Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Crystals, Small Struct., e2500328 (2025). (featured on the cover) https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.2025003282025
D. A. Jeff, K. Harrison, J. M. DeStefano, O. Peek, J.-H. Chu, S. I. Khondaker, Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of wrinkle-induced strain in layered topological insulator Ta2Ni3Te5, Optics Communications 593, 132314 (2025).2025
J. Allen, M. Allen, A. Khanikaev, M. Silveirinha, and D. Smirnova, Floquet-Engineered Materials and Systems: introduction to the feature issue, Optical Materials Express 15 (8), 1777-1779 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1364/OME.5698552025
R. Kumar, G. I. Chandan, R. Lopez Morales, A. Monge, A. Vakulenko, S. Kiriushenchkina, A. B. Khanikaev, J. Flick, and C. A. Meriles, Emission of nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond shaped by topological photonic waveguide modes, Nature Nanotechnology (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-02001-32025
Z. Deng, Y. Li, X. Wang, Z. Jiang, and B. Dong, Quantum computing-enhanced large-scale residential electric vehicle charging management, Applied Energy vol. 401, p. 126772 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.1267722025
Z. Deng, X. Wang, and B. Dong, Integrating quantum computing into building-to-grid control framework: Application of benders decomposition in mixed-integer nonlinear programming, Build. Simul. vol. 18, pp. 1163-1178 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-025-1248-42025
A. Hashemi, E.L. Pereira, H. Li, J.L. Lado, and A. Blanco-Redondo, Observation of non-Hermitian topology from optical loss modulation, Nat. Mater. vol. 24, pp. 1393–1399 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02278-82025
A. Hashemi, M. Javad Zakeri, P. S. Jung, and A. Blanco-Redondo, Topological quantum photonic, APL Photonics vol. 10(1), p. 010903 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.02392652025
M. Parto, C. Leefmans, J. Williams, and A. Marandi, Enhanced sensitivity via non-Hermitian topology, Light, Science & Applications vol. 14, p. 1 (2025). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41377-024-01667-z2025
S. Pontula, S. Vaidya, C. Roques-Carmes, M. Soljačić, and Y. Salamin, Long-Range Entanglement in Multimode Comb Systems via Cascaded Nonlinear Processes, Nature Communications vol. 16, p. 7544 (2025). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62853-02025
I. B. Elius, J. F. Casey, S. Regmi, V. Buturlim, A. P. Sakhya, M. Sprague, M. I. Mondal, N. Valadez, A. K. Kumay, J. Scrivens, Y. Venkateswara, S. Dan, T. Romanova, A. K. Pathak, K. Gofryk, A. Ptok, D. Kaczorowski, and M. Neupane, Electronic structure of a nodal line semimetal candidate TbSbTe, Phys. Rev. Materials vol. 9, p. 064202 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.9.064202P2025
K. Kumarasinghe, A. Rahman, M. Tomlinson, D. Le, F. Joshua, L. Zhai, and Y. Nakajima, Enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature due to multiband effect in the topological nodal-line semimetal Pb1−xSnxTaSe2, Phys. Rev. B vol. 112, p. 054504 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1103/hsdq-2tp92025
Q.-P. Ding, C. Taylor, Y. Lee, C. Dissanayake, V. Mishra, D.K. Le, M.-H. Phan, Y. Nakajima, Y. Furukawa, Slow ferromagnetic fluctuations in the kagome metal Sc3Mn3Al7Si5 revealed by 27Al NMR, Phys. Rev. B vol. 112, p. L121105 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1103/qmgs-kmcl2025
H. Zhao, W. D. Chen, A. Kejriwal, and M. Mirhosseini, Quantum-enabled microwave-to-optical transduction via silicon nanomechanics, Nature Nanotechnology vol. 20, pp. 602-608 (2025). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-025-01874-82025
S. Choi, Y. Salamin, C. Roques-Carmes, J. Sloan, and M. Soljačić, Observing the dynamics of quantum states generated inside nonlinear optical cavities, Nature Communications vol. 16, p. 7576 (2025). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63035-82025
J. Drake, T. Bate, J. Wahlen, S. Thapa, E. Turner, A. Van Rynbach, E. Antonio-Lopez, R. Amezcua-Correa, and D. Hudson, Dynamic wavelength selection of 1, 1.5, and 1.9 µm via gas switching in hollow-core fiber, Opt. Continuum vol. 4, pp. 1710-1718 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTCON.5653842025
P. Park, B. R. Ortiz, M. Sprague, A. P. Sakhya, S. A. Chen, M. D. Frontzek, W. Tian, R. Sibille, D. G. Mazzone, C. Tabata, K. Kaneko, L. M. DeBeer Schmitt, M. B. Stone, D. S. Parker, G. D. Samolyuk, H. Miao, M. Neupane, and A. D. Christianson, Spin density wave and van Hove singularity in the kagome metal CeTi₃Bi₄, Nature Communications vol. 16, p. 4384 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59460-42025
R. M. Gray, R. Sekine, L. Ledezma, G. H. Y. Li, S. Zhou, A. Roy, M. Parto, and A. Marandi, Large-scale time-multiplexed nanophotonic parametric oscillators, Newton vol. 1, p. 5 (2025). https://www.cell.com/newton/fulltext/S2950-6360(25)00100-82025
S. Arpin, R. Bowden, J. Clements, W. Ghantous, J. T. LeGrow, and K. Maughan, Cycles and Cuts in Supersingular L-Isogeny Graphs, preprint (2025). https://ia.cr/2025/1552025
G. Pasquale, P. E. Faria Junior, et al., Spin polarization detection via chirality-induced tunneling currents in indium selenide, Nature Materials vol. 24, p. 212 (2025). Nature Materials 24, 212 (2025)2025
M. Fix, J. H. Atkinson, F. Muller, E. del Barco, and A. Jesche, Cooperative quantum tunneling of the magnetization in Fe-doped Li3N, Phys. Rev. B vol. 110, p. 134405 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.110.1344052024
D. Smirnova and A. B. Khanikaev, Twisted topological light illuminates molecular chirality, Nature Photonics vol. 18(11), pp. 1133-1134 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-024-01553-52024
J. Ding, M. Li, A. B. Khanikaev, and X. Ni, Topology classification in bi-anisotropic topological photonic crystals via the Wilson loop approach, Optical Materials Express, vol. 14, pp. 1995-2002 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1364/OME.5291082024
A. B. Khanikaev and A. Alù, Topological photonics: robustness and beyond, Nat. Commun. vol. 15, p. 931 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45194-22024
K. Harrison, D. A. Jeff, J. M. DeStefano, O. Peek, A. Kushima, J.-H. Chu, H. R. Gutiérrez, and S. I. Khondaker, In-Plane Anisotropy in the Layered Topological Insulator Ta2Ni3Te5 Investigated via TEM and Polarized Raman Spectroscopy. ACS nano vol. 18, 4811 (2024).2024
K. Jhuria, S. Ivanov, D. Polley, W. Liu, A. Persaud, Y. Zhiyenbayev, W. Redjem, W. Qarony, P. Parajuli, Qing Ji, C. Papapanos, A. J. Gonsalves, J. Bokor, L. Z. Tan, B. Kanté, and T. Schenkel, Programmable quantum emitter formation in silicon, Nature Communications vol. 15, p. 4497 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48714-22024
Y. Wang, J. Lee, and P. X.-L. Feng, Perspectives on Phoning Waveguides for On-Chip Classical and Quantum Transduction, Applied Physics Letters vol. 124, p. 070502 (2024). https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apl/article/124/7/070502/32629342024
M.B. On, F. Ashtiani, D. Sanchez-Jacome, D. Perez-Lopez, S.J.B. Yoo, and A. Blanco-Redondo, Programmable integrated photonics for topological Hamiltonians, Nature Communications vol. 15(1), p. 629 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44939-32024
S. Niu, A. Todri-Sanial, and N. T. Bronn, Multi-qubit dynamical decoupling for enhanced crosstalk suppression, Quantum Science and Technology vol. 9(4), p. 045003 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-9565/ad5a372024
S. Niu, A. Hashim, C. Iancu, et al., Effective Quantum Resource Optimization via Circuit Resizing in BQSKit, Proceedings of the 61st ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference, 1-6 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1145/3649329.36565342024
P. Jouzdani, H. A. Hashim, and E. R. Mucciolo, Quantum algorithms for state preparation and data classification based on stabilizer codes, Phys. Rev. A vol. 109, p. 022602 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.0226022024
C. Chamon, E. R. Mucciolo, A. E. Ruckenstein, and Z.-C. Yang, Fast pseudorandom quantum state generators via inflationary quantum gates, npj Quantum Inf. vol. 10, p. 37 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-024-00831-y2024
Z. Liang, Z. He, Y. Sun, D. Herman, Q. Jiao, Y. Zhu, W. Jiang, X. Xu, D. Wu, M. Pistoia, and Y. Shi, Synergizing Quantum Techniques with Machine Learning for Advancing Drug Discovery Challenge, Scientific Reports vol. 14, p. 31216 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82576-42024
D. Wu, Synergizing Error Suppression, Mitigation and Correction for Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing, QUILLS 2024 (2024).2024
S. Pontula, Y. Salamin, C. Roques-Carmes, and M. Soljačić, Shaping Quantum Noise through Cascaded Nonlinear Processes in a Dissipation-Engineered Multimode Cavity, PRX Quantum vol. 5 5, p. 040345 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXQuantum.5.0403452024
C. Leefmans, M. Parto, J. Williams, G. H. Y. Li, A. Dutt, F. Nori, and A. Marandi, Topological Temporally Mode-Locked Laser, Nature Physics vol. 20, p. 1 (2024). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-024-02420-42024
Frank, P. E. Faria Junior, K. Zollner and J. Fabian, Emergence of radial Rashba spin-orbit fields in twisted van der Waals heterostructures, Phys. Rev. B Letters (Editor’s Suggestion) vol. 109, p. L241403 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.109.L2414032024
A. P. Sakhya, B. R. Ortiz, B. Ghosh, M. Sprague, M. I. Mondal, M. Matzelle, I. B. Elius, N. Valadez, D. G. Mandrus, A. Bansil, and M. Neupane, Diverse electronic landscape of the novel kagome metal YbTi₃Bi₄, Communications Materials vol. 5, p. 241 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-024-00681-32024
M. X. Sprague, S. Regmi, B. Ghosh, A. P. Sakhya, M. I. Mondal, I. B. Elius, N. Valadez, B. Singh, T. Romanova, D. Kaczorowski, A. Bansil, and M. Neupane, Observation of paramagnetic spin-degeneracy lifting in EuZn₂Sb₂, Phys. Rev. B vol. 110, p. 045130 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.110.045130S2024
C. Heide, Y. Kobayashi, S.R.U. Haque, and S. Ghimire, Ultrafast high-harmonic spectroscopy of solids, Nature Physics vol. 20, pp. 1546-1557 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02640-82024
J. Xu, C. Zhong, S. Zhuang, C. Qian, Y. Jiang, A. Pishehvar, X. Han, D. Jin, J. M. Jornet, B. Zhen, J. Hu, L. Jiang, ans X. Zhang, Slow-wave hybrid magnonics, Physical Review Letters vol. 132(11), p. 116701 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.1167012024
C. Dissanayake, A. C. Jacko, K. Kumarasinghe, R. Munir, H. Siddiquee, W. J. Newsome, F. J. Uribe-Romo, E. S. Choi, S. Yadav, X.-Z. Hu, Y. Takano, S. Pakhira, D. C. Johnston, Q.-P. Ding, Y. Furukawa, B. J. Powell, and Y. Nakajima, Gapless spinons and a field-induced soliton gap in the hyper-honeycomb Cu oxalate framework compound [(C2H5)3NH]2Cu2(C2O4), Phys. Rev. B vol. 108, p. 134418 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.L1004052023
Y. Kobayashi, C. Heide, A. C Johnson, V. Tiwari, F. Liu, D.A. Reis, T.F. Heinz, and S. Ghimire, Floquet engineering of strongly driven excitons in monolayer tungsten disulfide, Nature Physics vol. 19, pp. 171-176 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01849-92023
Z. Jia, W. Qarony, J. Park, S. Hooten, D. Wen, Y. Zhiyenbayev, W. Redjem, E. Yablonovitch, and B. Kanté, Interpretable inverse-designed cavity for on-chip nonlinear and quantum optics, Optica vol. 10(11), pp. 1529-1534(2023). https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.5027322023
Y. Zhiyenbayev, W. Redjem, W. Qarony, S. Ivanov, W. Liu, C. Papapanos, T. Schenkel, L. Z. Tan, and B. Kanté, Scalable manufacturing of quantum emitters in silicon by rapid thermal annealing, Optics Express vol. 31(5), pp. 8352-8362 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.4823112023
D. A. Jeff, F. Gonzalez, K. Harrison, Y. Zhao, T. Fernando, S. Regmi, Z. Liu, H. R. Gutierrez, M. Neupane, J. Yang, J.-H. Chu, X. Xu, T. Cao, S. I. Khondaker, Raman Study of Layered Breathing Kagome Lattice Semiconductor Nb3Cl8. 2D Materials 10, 045030 (2023).2023
S. Regmi, A. P. Sakhya, T. Fernando, Y. Zhao, D. Jeff, M. Sprague, F. Gonzalez, I. B. Elius, M. I. Mondal, N. Valadez, D. Jarrett, A. Agosto, J. Yang, J-H. Chu, S. I. Khondaker, X. Xu, T. Cao, M. Neupane, Observation of flat and weakly dispersing bands in the van der Waals semiconductor with breathing kagome lattice, Phys. Rev. B 108, L121404 (2023)2023
H. P. Paudel, S. E. Crawford, Y.-L. Lee, R. A. Shugayev, M. N. Leuenberger, M. Syamlal, P. R. Ohodnicki, P. Lu, D. Mollot, and Y. Duan, Quantum Communication Networks for Energy Applications: Review and Perspective, Adv. Quantum Technol. vol. 6, p. 2300096 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1002/qute.2023000962023
W. Ghantous, F. Pintore, and M. Veroni, Efficiency of SIDH-based signatures (yes, SIDH), Journal of Mathematical Cryptology vol. 18, pp. 2023-0023 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1515/jmc-2023-00232023
P. E. Faria Junior and J. Fabian, Signatures of electric field and layer separation effects on the spin-valley physics of MoSe2/WSe2 heterobilayers: from energy bands to dipolar excitons, Nanomaterials vol. 13, p. 1187 (2023). Nanomaterials 13, 1187 (2023)2023
Z. Deng, X. Wang, and B. Dong, Quantum computing for future real-time building HVAC controls, Applied Energy vol. 334, p. 120621 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.1206212023
Z. Liang, J. Cheng, R. Yang, H. Ren, Z. Song, D. Wu, X. Qian, T. Lim, and Y. Shi, Unleashing the potential of llms for quantum computing: A study in quantum architecture design, preprint arXiv.2307.08191(2023). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2307.081912023
S. Regmi, I. B. Elius, A. P. Sakhya, D. Jeff, M. Sprague, M. I. Mondal, D. Jarrett, N. Valadez, A. Agosto, T. Romanova, J.-H. Chu, S. I. Khondaker, A. Ptok, D. Kaczorowski, and M. Neupane, Observation of momentum-dependent charge density wave gap in a layered antiferromagnet GdTe3, Scientific Reports vol. 13, 18618 (2023).2023
A. Bozkurt, H. Zhao, C. Joshi, H. G. LeDuc, P. K. Day, and M. Mirhosseini, A quantum electromechanical interface for long-lived phonons, Nature Physics vol. 19, pp. 1326–1332 (2023). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-023-02080-w2023
W. Redjem, Y. Zhiyenbayev, W. Qarony, S. Ivanov, C. Papapanos, W. Liu, S. Dhuey, A. Schwartzberg, T. Schenkel, L. Z. Tan, and B. Kanté, All-silicon quantum light source by embedding an atomic emissive center in a nanophotonic cavity, Nature Communications vol. 14, p. 3321 (2023). 10.1038/s41467-023-38559-62023
S. Niu and A. Todri-Sanial, Enabling multi-programming mechanism for quantum computing in the NISQ era, Quantum vol. 7, p. 925 (2023). https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2023-02-16-9252023
C. Roques-Carmes, Y. Salamin, J. Sloan, S. Choi, G. Velez, E. Koskas, N. Rivera, S. E. Kooi, J. D. Joannopoulos, and M. Soljačić, Biasing the quantum vacuum to control macroscopic probability distributions, Science vol. 381, p. 6654 (2023). https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.adh49202023
E. Ordouie, T. Jiang, T. Zhou, F. A. Juneghani, M. Eshaghi, M. G. Vazimali, S. Fathpour, and B. Jalali, Differential Phase-Diversity Electrooptic Modulator for Cancellation of Fiber Dispersion and Laser Noise, Nature Communications vol. 14, p. 6065 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41772-y2023
M. Parto, C. Leefmans, J. Williams, F. Nori, and A. Marandi, Non-Abelian effects in dissipative photonic topological lattices, Nature Communications vol. 14, p. 1 (2023). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37065-z2023
P. E. Faria Junior et al., Proximity-enhanced valley Zeeman splitting at the WS2/graphene interface, 2D Materials vol. 10, p. 034002 (2023). 2D Materials 10, 034002 (2023)2023
E. Blundo, P. E. Faria Junior, et al., Strain-induced exciton hybridization in WS2 monolayers unveiled by Zeeman-splitting measurements, Phys. Rev. Lett. vol.. 129, p. 067402 (2022). Physical Review Letters 129, 067402 (2022)2022
S. Niu and A. Todri-Sanial, Effects of dynamical decoupling and pulse-level optimizations on ibm quantum computers, IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering vol. 3, pp. 1-10 (2022). 10.1109/TQE.2022.32031532022
A. Dhingra, X. Hu, M. F. Borunda, J. F. Johnson, C. Binek, J. Bird, A. T. N’Diaye, J.-P. Sutter, E. Delahaye, E. D. Switzer, E. del Barco, T. S. Rahman, and P. A. Dowben, Perspective: Molecular Transistors as Substitutes for Quantum Information Applications, J. Phys.: Cond. Matt. vol. 34, p. 441501 (2022). https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-648X/ac8c112022
R. Liu, Y. Han, F. Sun, G. Khatri, J. Kwon, C. Nickle, L. Wang, C.-K. Wang, D. Thompson, Z.-L. Li, C. A. Nijhuis, and E. del Barco, Stable Universal 1- and 2-Input Single-Molecule Logic Gates, Advanced Materials vol. 34, p. 2202135 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.2022021352022
R. Contractor, W. Noh, W. Redjem, W. Qarony, E. Martin, S. Dhuey, A. Schwartzberg, and B. Kanté, Scalable single-mode surface emitting laser via open-Dirac singularities, Nature vol. 608, pp. 692–698 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05021-42022
J. Lee, M. LaHaye, and P. X.-L. Feng, Design of Strongly Nonlinear Graphene Nanoelectromechanical Systems in Quantum Regime, Applied Physics Letters vol. 120, p 014001 (2022). https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apl/article/120/1/014001/28328412022
S. Regmi, T. Fernando, Y. Zhao, A. P. Sakhya, G. Dhakal, I. B. Elius, H. Vazquez, J. D. Denlinger, J. Yang, J.-H. Chu, X. Xu, T. Cao, and M. Neupane, Spectroscopic evidence of flat bands in breathing kagome semiconductor Nb₃I₈, Communications Materials vol. 3, p. 100 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-022-00318-32022
H. Siddiquee, R. Munir, C. Dissanayake, P. Vaidya, C. Nickle, E. Del Barco, G. Lamura, C. Baines, S. Cahen, C. Herold, P. Gentile, T. Shiroka, and Y. Nakajima, Nematic superconductivity in the topological semimetal CaSn3, Phys. Rev. B vol. 105, p. 094508 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.0945082022
L. Nordin, A. J. Muhowski, and D. Wasserman, High operating temperature plasmonic infrared detectors, Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 120, p. 101103 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.00774562022
L. Nordin and D. Wasserman, Epitaxial mid-IR nanophotonic optoelectronics, Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 120, p. 220501 (2022). (Invited Tutorial) https://doi.org/10.1063/5.00867742022
P. Jouzdani, C. W. Johnson, E. R. Mucciolo, and U. Stetcu, Alternative approach to quantum imaginary time evolution, Phys. Rev. A vol. 106, p. 062435 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.106.0624352022
T. Boolakee, C. Heide, A. Garzon-Ramires, H.B. Weber, I. Franco, and Peter Hommelhoff, Light-field control of real and virtual charge carriers, Nature vol. 605, pp. 251-255 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04565-92022
C. Heide, Y. Kobayashi, D.R. Baykusheva, D. Jain, J.A. Sobota, M. Hashimoto, P.S. Kirchmann, S. Oh, T. F. Heinz, D.A. Reis, and S. Ghimire, Probing topological phase transitions using high-harmonic generation, Nature Photonics vol. 16, pp. 620 – 624 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-022-01050-72022
C. Leefmans, A. Dutt, J. Williams, L. Yuan, M. Parto, F. Nori, S. Fan, and A. Marandi, Topological dissipation in a time-multiplexed photonic resonator network, Nature Physics vol. 18, p. 4 (2022). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-021-01492-w2022
C. Heide, T. Eckstein, T. Boolakee, C. Gerner, H.B. Weber, I. Franco, P. Hommelhoff, Electronic coherence and coherent dephasing in the optical control of electrons in graphene, Nano Letters vol. 22, 9403 (2021). https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02538.2021
Y. Wang, J. Lee, J. Berezovsky, and P. X.-L. Feng, Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics Design with Single Photon Emitters in Hexagonal Boron Nitride, Applied Physics Letters vol. 118, p. 244003 (2021). https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apl/article/118/24/244003/2389862021
J. Lee and X.-L. Feng, Self-sustaining MoS2 Nanomechanical Oscillators and Feedback Cooling, Applied Physics Letters vol. 119, p. 243506 (2021). https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apl/article/119/24/243506/412392021
J. Xu, F. Han, T.-T. Wang, L. R. Thoutam, S. E. Pate, M. Li, X. Zhang, Y.-L. Wang, R. Fotovat, U. Welp, X. Zhou, W.-K. Kwok, D. Y. Chung, M. G. Kanatzidis, Z.-L. Xiao, Extended Kohler’s Rule of Magnetoresistance, Physical Review X vol. 11(4), 041029 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.0410292021
J. Xu, C. Zhong, X. Han, D. Jin, L. Jiang, and X. Zhang, Coherent Gate Operations in Hybrid Magnonics, Physical Review Letters vol. 126(20), p. 207202 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.2072022021
R. Munir, KAM H. Siddiquee, C. Dissanayake, X. Hu, Y. Takano, E.S. Choi, and Y. Nakajima, Unusual upper critical fields of the topological nodal-line semimetal candidate SnxNbSe2−δ, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter vol. 33, p. 23LT01 (2021). https://doi.org/ 10.1088/1361-648X/abf3862021
L. Nordin, P. Petluru, A. Kamboj, A. J. Muhowski, and D. Wasserman, Ultra-thin plasmonic detectors, Optica vol. 8, pp. 1545-1551 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.4380392021
A. Kamboj, L. Nordin, P. Petluru, A. J. Muhowski, D. N. Woolf, and D. Wasserman, All-epitaxial guided-mode resonance mid-wave infrared detectors, Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 118, p. 201102 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.00475342021
W. Ghantous, S. Katsumata, F. Pintore, and M. Veroni, Collisions in Supersingular Isogeny Graphs and the SIDH-based Identification Protocol, preprint (2021). https://ia.cr/2021/10512021
Y. Han, C. Nickle, Z. Zhang, H. P. A. G. Astier, T. J. Duffin, D. Qi, Z. Wang, E. del Barco, D. Thompson and C. A. Nijhuis, Electric-field-driven dual-functional molecular switches in tunnel junctions, Nature Materials vol. 19, pp. 843–848 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0697-5302020
B. S. Elkus, K. Abdelsalam, S. Fathpour, P. Kumar, and G. S. Kanter, Quantum-Correlated Photon-Pair Generation via Cascaded Nonlinearity in an Ultra-Compact Lithium-Niobate Nano-Waveguide, Optics Express vol. 28, pp. 39963-39975 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.4115752020
J. Xu, C. Zhong, X. Han, D. Jin, L. Jiang, and X. Zhang, Floquet Cavity Electromagnonics, Physical Review Letters vol. 125(23), p. 237201 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.2372012020

Funded Research Projects

TitleAmountPeriod
CAREER: Correlated Topological Phases in Rare-earth-based Compounds, National Science Foundation, 1847962. PI: M. Neupane (Physics).$695K02/2019-01/2026
Novel Light-Matter Interactions in Topologically Non-Trivial Weyl Semimetal Structures and Systems. MURI Airforce Office of Scientific Research.$6M09/20-09/2026
Neupane’s portion of MURI Airforce project$800K09/20-09/2026
CAREER: Probing Nematic Superconductivity in Topological Semimetals, National Science Foundation, DMR-1944975. PI: Y. Nakajima (Physics).$558,706 07/2020-06/2026
Molecular beam epitaxy grown topological quantum material films for ultrafast light-matter interactions, Air Force Office of Scientific Research DURIP. PI: M. Neupane (Physics).$420K09/01/2022 - 08/31/2024
Light-matter interaction in altermagnetic quantum materials, Department of Energy. PI: M. Neupane (Physics).$350K06/2023 to 05/2026
Collaborative Research: Advancing Quantum Education by Adaptively Addressing Misconceptions in Virtual Reality, National Science Foundation IIS 2302816. PI: R. McMahan (VA Tech); Senior Personnel: E. Mucciolo (Physics). Amount for UCF.$58K08/2023-07/2026
Towards a Programmable Plasmonic Information Processor based on Graphene, 2D Materials, and Rare-Earth Atoms, Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), FA9550-23-1-0472. PI: M. Leuenberger (NSTC, Physics, CREOL); Co-PI: Dirk R. Englund (MIT).$2M07/2023-06/2028
ExpandQISE: Track 2: Leveraging synthetic degrees of freedom for quantum state engineering in photonics chips, NSF, Former PI: A. B. Khanikaev (CREOL); Co-PI: A. Blanco-Redondo (CREOL) and three others.$1.2M2024-2026
Leveraging synthetic degrees of freedom for quantum state engineering in photonic chips, National Science Foundation, award number 2328993. First PI: Vinod Menon (CUNY); Co-PI: A. Blanco-Redondo (CREOL). Amount for UCF.$1,463,574 2024-2026
Sources of Quantum Light in Hollow-Core Fibers, University of Central Florida, Seed Funding. First PI: A. Blanco-Redondo (CREOL). Amount for UCF.$49,537 02/2024-02/2026
Mid-Infrared Topological Metaphotonics, AFRL CLAWS, PI: A. B. Khanikaev (CREOL).$780K2024-2026
Topological Photonics and Structured Modes for Robust and Tailored Light-Matter Interactions, ONR, PI: A. B. Khanikaev (CREOL).$317K2024-2026
Spin Quantum Dynamics in Molecular Magnets, National Science Foundation, DMR-333333. PI: E. del Barco (Physics).$729K05/2024-04/2028
Magnetic Topological Insulators for Lossless Monostructural Spintronics, W. M. Keck Foundation. PI: E. del Barco (Physics).$1.3M07/2024-06/2027
High-index Hybrid-mode Nanophotonic Infrared Detectors, Sandia National Laboratories. PI: L. Nordin (MSE/CREOL).$450K07/2024-06/2027
PREM: Center for Quantum Material Innovations and Educational Excellence (CQ-MIEE), National Science Foundation, award number 2424976. First PI: Saiful Khondaker (NSTC/Physics). Co-PI: A. Blanco-Redondo (CREOL) and others. Amount for UCF.$49,537 02/2024-02/2026
EAGER: Designing Elemental Devices for Molecular Electronics –Molecular Tunnel Junctions, National Science Foundation, ECCS-333333. PI: E. del Barco (Physics).$273K09/2024-08/2026
Ferrimagnetic Materials for Fast Nanoscale Information Processing, Air Force Office of Scientific Research. PI: E. del Barco (Physics).$2.25M09/2024-08/2028
Collaborative Research: GCR: Toward a Physics-Inspired Approach to Computation on Encrypted Data, National Science Foundation, award OIE-242488. PIs: A. Ruckenstein (Boston University), E. Mucciolo (UCF Physics). Co-PIs: C. Chamon (Purdue University), R. Canetti (Boston University), and T. Riley (Cornell University).$1.12M09/2024-08/2026
PREM Center for Quantum Material Innovations and Educational Excellence (CQ-MIEE), National Science Foundation, 2424976. PI: S. Khondaker (NSTC); Co-PIs: M. Neupane (Physics) and four others. Amount: $4.2M. Neupane’s portion.$800K09/2024-08/2030
Renewal: The Simons Collaboration in Mathematics and Physical Sciences: Harnessing Universal Symmetry Concepts for Extreme Wave Phenomena, The Simons Foundation, Co-PI: A. B. Khanikaev (CREOL). Amount for UCF.$450K09/2024-08/2027
Quantum Entanglement in Frequency Combs, UCF/Office of Research. PI: Y. Salamin (CREOL).$12K02/2025-11/2025
High-speed and high-extinction ratio optical switching for cavity quantum Tomography, Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from ORAU. PI: Y. Salamin (CREOL).$10K08/2025-07/2026
Squeezing-enhanced homodyne detection with traveling-wave optical parametric amplifiers in lithium niobate nanophotonics – Phase 1, DARPA, PI: R. Nehra (U. Massachusetts); Co-PI: S. Fathpour (CREOL).$450K08/2025-01/2026
Effect of lattice distortion in electronic properties of kagome metals, National Science Foundation, 2518800. PI: M. Neupane (Physics).$355K09/2025-08/2028
Symmetry Engineered Photonics Quantum Nano-Materials for Generation and Control of Classical and Quantum Light, DOD Army, PI: A. B. Khanikaev (CREOL).$1M03/2025-03/2029
Extreme Electro-Momentum Metamaterials for Directional Sensing and Phonon Transport, DOD MURI, PI: Andrea Alù; Co-PI: A. B. Khanikaev (CREOL). Amount for UCF$1.25M08/2025-08/2030
NSF-AFRL REFLEQTS: Floquet-engineered polaritonic quantum states for infrared single photon detection and sensing, NSF-ARFL, PI: A. B. Khanikaev (UCF CREOL); Co-PIs: Andrea Alù (CUNY), Qiang Lin (U. Rochester), and Bo Zhen (U. Penn).$2M08/2025-08/2028
Nanophotonic Mid-wave Infrared Avalanche Photodiodes, Air Force Office of Scientific Research. PI: L. Nordin (MSE/CREOL).$450K01/2026-01/2029

Courses

UCF faculty involved in the Quantum Initiative and their colleagues regularly offer several courses with a strong quantum science content:

Education & Outreach

The UCF Quantum Initiative aims to build competitive workforce on quantum information science and technology. UCF offers various courses for those students interested in diving deep into quantum science. We are planning new interdisciplinary quantum-oriented tracks and a minor program for undergraduates, as well certificates for graduate students. Additionally, we offer a Summer Camp and an REU program where local high-school students and undergraduates from across the nation can participate in cutting-edge quantum research.

Student working on an optical table setup.

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

The REU exposes 10 undergraduate students to ten weeks of research and other educational experiences in lasers, optics, and photonics. Ten internationally recognized faculty members at CREOL will serve as research mentors in this program. The students will have the opportunity to conduct their own research projects in state-of-the-art optics and photonics research laboratories, while being carefully mentored to transition from close supervision to relative independence.

Learn more about the REU

Laser & Photonics Summer Camp

CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics at UCF, provides hands-on experience as students explore this exciting field of science. This camp is for high-school students who are interested in physics and/or engineering and want to learn more about creating future technologies using light.

Learn more about the Summer Camp
Students working during a session of the Summer Camp.

News and Events

  • Air Force Young Investigator award

    Congratulations to Leland Nordin for his new Air Force Young Investigator award! He is receiving $450K to develop infrared detectors for a variety of applications.

  • NSF REFLEQTS award

    Congratulations to Alex Khanikaev for his new NSF REFLEQTS award! This $2M, three-year grant will fund a major multi-institutional research project to conceive, explore, design and realize a new class of devices based on an emergent quantum physics of periodically driven materials.

Contact Us

Contact us at quantum@ucf.edu