Principal Investigator: Maxim Shcherbakov, UC Irvine. Research team also includes UCI faculty Yanning Shen, Ruqian Wu, and Filippo Capolino; researchers Andy Nonaka, Archana Raja, Yingheng Tang, and Erhan Saglamyurek at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; and Katyayani Seal at Single Quantum USA.

Award: Active award with a current budget period of September 1, 2026 – May 31, 2027 (Award No. DE-SC0026811). Total award value is $750,000, with $545,000 going to UCI

Funding Agency: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science (Program Manager: Tim Mewes)

Project: Causal AI for Deterministic Quantum Emitters from Atoms to Photonic Systems

Quantum technologies such as secure communications to advanced sensing and computing depend on reliable light sources that can generate single photons on demand. Designing these quantum emitters is difficult because their performance is shaped by complex interactions across atomic, device, and fabrication scales. This project will develop CASCADE (Cross-scale Agent for Structured Causal Analysis and Design), an AI-enabled framework that unifies modeling, device design, and experimental testing into a single, adaptive workflow.

Rather than treating simulations and experiments as separate activities, CASCADE uses AI to coordinate them in real time — identifying the most informative next steps and uncovering the causal relationships that determine how material structure and device design affect quantum optical performance. The framework will be demonstrated using quantum emitters, and is designed to be broadly applicable across quantum materials and device platforms.

More information: Search award number DE-SC0026811 at https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov or visit https://science.osti.gov for additional details on DOE Office of Science funding.

Click here or visit https://bit.ly/Maxim-Quantum-Photonics to view the announcement on the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering website.

Author: Gabrielle Comfort