Materials Characterization and Quantum Performance: Correlation and Causation (MQC) FY 23 | FOA AFRL AFOSR 2023 0010

Opportunity Information: Apply for FOA AFRL AFOSR 2023 0010

The Materials Characterization and Quantum Performance: Correlation and Causation (MQC) FY23 opportunity is a research funding call from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), run in collaboration with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS). It targets a very specific bottleneck in solid-state, gate-based quantum computing: even when qubit designs look similar on paper, real devices often vary widely in stability and performance from wafer to wafer, chip to chip, or cooldown to cooldown. MQC frames this as a materials problem first, meaning the program is less interested in purely architectural or control-level fixes and more focused on understanding how underlying materials and fabrication realities translate into the qubit behavior people measure in the lab.

The program scope centers on solid-state qubits made from semiconductor and superconductor material systems, specifically for gate-based quantum computing. It highlights two platform families as especially relevant: silicon (Si) gate-defined quantum dots and Josephson junction-based superconducting quantum circuits. In both cases, the qubit is not just an abstract two-level system; it is a device whose coherence, noise, and reproducibility are strongly shaped by interfaces, defects, disorder, contamination, film quality, junction properties, and other microstructural features that can vary subtly across fabrication runs. MQC is essentially asking teams to connect those microscopic and materials-level details to the macroscopic qubit metrics used to judge progress in the field.

The core technical goal is to identify clear correlations between qubit performance metrics and specific material properties. Importantly, the solicitation emphasizes material properties that can be measured precisely and at high throughput. That detail signals a practical intention: the Air Force is not only looking for one-off deep dives with exotic characterization on a small number of devices, but also for measurement approaches and material indicators that could realistically be used as screening, process monitoring, or feedback tools during development and manufacturing. In other words, they want material descriptors that can be gathered efficiently and consistently enough to guide iterative improvement and reduce variability.

A second goal, stated as equally important, is moving beyond correlation to causation by identifying the underlying physical mechanisms that produce those correlations. The program is looking for mechanistic explanations that hold up under scrutiny, not just statistical relationships. To support that, proposed work is expected to include detailed materials characterization measurements paired with modeling. The modeling component is described broadly and can include material microstructure modeling as well as device modeling, which implies multi-scale thinking: how microstructural features and material disorder affect electronic states, interfaces, noise sources, loss channels, and ultimately observable qubit behavior. The best-fit efforts for this program are likely those that can close the loop from fabrication or materials variation to measured qubit performance and then back to a physically grounded explanation that suggests how to improve stability and reproducibility.

From an eligibility and administrative standpoint, the opportunity is a discretionary research and development funding call (CFDA 12.800) under AFOSR, labeled as an "Other" funding instrument type in the source listing. It is open to "all responsible sources," explicitly including academia, nonprofit organizations, and industry, including for-profit entities. The funding opportunity number is FOA AFRL AFOSR 2023 0010. The posting was created on March 20, 2023, and the original closing date listed is June 20, 2023. The award ceiling shown is $6,750,000, which indicates the maximum potential amount for an award under this call as presented in the listing, though the number of expected awards is not specified in the provided source data.

In practical terms, MQC is designed for teams that can bridge quantum device performance testing with rigorous materials science. Strong proposals under this theme would typically bring together quantum engineering (to define and measure meaningful qubit performance metrics), advanced characterization (to quantify materials and interface properties with precision and throughput), and theory/modeling (to establish plausible causal mechanisms). The overall intent is to turn qubit performance variability into something measurable, explainable, and ultimately controllable by identifying which material factors matter most, how to measure them efficiently, and why they influence the quantum device outcomes.

• The Air Force Office of Scientific Research in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Materials Characterization and Quantum Performance: Correlation and Causation (MQC) FY 23" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.800.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-03-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-20. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $6,750,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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