DQS-CP
Program Summary
DQS-CP is a multi-institution research testbed developing quantum sensing technologies for chemistry and materials science.
Supported by NSF's National Quantum Virtual Laboratory program and co-funded by NSF's Directorate for Biological Sciences, the program brings together researchers, engineers, and future instrument users to determine where quantum sensing can deliver meaningful scientific benefit.
Our goal is simple but demanding: demonstrate, with quantitative experimental evidence, when quantum advantage is real for molecular and solid-state measurements and when it is not.
Mission
- Establish measurable performance benchmarks for quantum sensing.
- Determine where quantum methods outperform conventional approaches.
- Identify the practical limits of quantum-enabled measurements.
- Generate the technical foundation for deployable research instruments.
A Modular Sensor Architecture
Every sensing platform in DQS-CP can be viewed as three connected components:
Target
- The molecular or solid-state system being measured.
Spin Relay Layer
- A molecular or materials-based interface that couples to the target and carries information away from it.
Quantum Readout
- A quantum system that converts the signal into data that can be recorded by conventional instruments.
Target → Spin Relay Layer → Quantum Readout
- This modular framework allows different sensing approaches to be evaluated within a common architecture.
Research Areas
Key research efforts include:
- Molecular qubits designed specifically for sensing applications.
- Solid-state quantum sensing platforms.
- Spin-relay engineering and information transfer.
- Entanglement-enabled sensing strategies.
- Quantum-enhanced measurements that push beyond the Standard Quantum Limit.
Because the sensor's electronic and magnetic structure determines what can ultimately be measured, designing and optimizing these components is central to improving sensitivity and performance.
Why a Multi-Institution Testbed?
DQS-CP is structured around collaborative co-design:
- Institutions contribute expertise at different points in the sensor architecture.
- Researchers, engineers, and future instrument users work together throughout development.
- Common testbed frameworks enable comparison across technologies.
- Modularity allows new sensing approaches to be incorporated as the field evolves.
This approach helps transform promising laboratory demonstrations into tools that can be broadly adopted by the research community.
Phase 2 Objectives
Advance Multiple Sensing Modalities
Several sensing approaches are being developed in parallel across the consortium, each combining different target systems, spin-relay strategies, and quantum readout technologies.
Design Deployable Instruments
Experimental results are simultaneously translated into:
- Instrument requirements
- Performance specifications
- Cost bases
- Vendor-ready design packages
The objective is to define instruments that could be used by researchers beyond the laboratories where they were originally developed.
Near-Term Sensing Targets
In Situ Defect Monitoring
Finding and counting atomic-scale defects inside semiconductor devices and nuclear materials while they are operating. Conventional characterization means taking the device apart first.
Cellular Processes
Detecting biochemical activity inside intact cells, using sample preparation borrowed from cryo-electron microscopy and fluorescent protein probes as the sensing layer.
Biomolecular Dynamics
Following how single biomolecules move and change shape, across timescales, with DNA nanostructures handling the transduction.
Near-Term Sensing Targets
In Situ Defect Monitoring
Finding and counting atomic-scale defects inside semiconductor devices and nuclear materials while they are operating. Conventional characterization means taking the device apart first.
Cellular Processes
Detecting biochemical activity inside intact cells, using sample preparation borrowed from cryo-electron microscopy and fluorescent protein probes as the sensing layer.
Biomolecular Dynamics
Following how single biomolecules move and change shape, across timescales, with DNA nanostructures handling the transduction.
Note
Program Partners
Looking Ahead
NSF's staged design reviews provide the framework for maturing both the sensing technologies and the instrument concepts.
Results from these parallel efforts will establish the technical and programmatic foundation for the DQS-CP Phase 3 proposal.
NSF & Program Context
DQS-CP is funded by NSF Award 2547444 through the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory and jointly supported by NSF's Directorate for Biological Sciences.
The NQVL was established under the National Quantum Initiative Act to move quantum science out of the research lab and into working instruments.
Archive
Phase 1 Pilot (2023–2025): Program History
About
Pilot phase development efforts are currently underway for DQS-CP technology development funded under the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL) program to create a technology roadmap for the development of quantum sensing of molecular and materials structure and functional properties.
As part of the roadmap development process, the team will convene experts in quantum information science and technology with experts in the end-use applications of molecular and materials sensing, ranging from academic researchers in quantum materials to industrial researchers in catalysis and drug discovery.
Each of the targets below represent potential transformative breakthroughs in science and technology:
Mission
A co-design approach will be used to help focus research and development on the most critical and limiting challenges facing current applications, and in turn will forecast new directions enabled by breakthroughs in the fundamental science.
The team will also begin work on validating new approaches to quantum sensing that promise to circumvent what was previously believed to be the fundamental limit on sensitivity, as well as the implementation of a modular approach to electrical readout that will dramatically expand the materials basis for future quantum sensors.
Town Hall
DQS-CP is actively seeking collaborators and stakeholders to join an upcoming town hall and welcomes interested parties to visit the events page and use the contact link to be added to our future project-specific mailings and outreach.
National Quantum Virtual Laboratory
The National Science Foundation is introducing the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL) concept as an overarching shared infrastructure designed to facilitate the translation from basic science and engineering to the resultant technology, while at the same time emphasizing and advancing its scientific and technical value.
The NQVL aims to develop and utilize use-inspired and application-oriented quantum technologies.