QuEST: Training Network on Quantum Electrodynamics with Silicon NanoTechnology

Quantum technologies (QT) have the potential to revolutionize computing, communication, and sensing, and recent advances in silicon nanofabrication have created a unique opportunity for realizing a new class of quantum electrodynamical (QED) technologies, which exploit quantum vacuum fluctuations in solid-state systems at the deep nanoscale. The potential for developing unprecedented nanomechanical and nanophotonic quantum devices is immense, but the necessary interdisciplinary and intersectoral frameworks are currently missing at the international and European levels. The QUEST Doctoral Network aims to
overcome these limitations by establishing a world-class training and research programme that unites leading European academic institutions, research centres, and industrial partners across all necessary disciplines. QUEST will train 15 doctoral candidates (DCs) to advance the science and technology of silicon QED, thereby making significant contributions at the intersection of three areas of key strategic importance for Europe: semiconductor nanotechnology, photonics, and quantum technology. The combined program will develop the material and fabrication technology, the measurement tools, and the necessary conceptual and theoretical models to exploit the opportunities offered by silicon QED at the deep nanoscale. By combining complementary expertise and fostering crosssector mobility, the network will educate a new generation of DCs in the full stack of skills needed in silicon quantum photonics technologies, including theory, modelling, design, material growth, nanofabrication, and a wide range of experimental techniques - as well as communication, collaboration, and leadership skills - which are all key elements for the success of the Quantum Europe Strategy, the EU Chips Act, and the long-term competitiveness and sovereignty of the European semiconductor and QT sectors.