TU Wien is featuring our work on "Coupling free electrons to a trapped-ion quantum computer", which was recently accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters.

In collaboration, opens an external URL in a new window with researchers from the University of Vienna, JKU Linz and the University of Innsbruck we have developed a theoretical method to enhance electron microscopy using a quantum computer. By entangling passing electrons with trapped ions, quantum algorithms can combine information from successive electrons to reveal signals otherwise obscured by noise. The approach could surpass the statistical limits of conventional electron counting, enabling more precise measurements with fewer electrons, a key advantage for radiation-sensitive samples such as proteins. Following the mathematical demonstration, experimental implementation is now underway at TU Wien, where an ion-based quantum computer is being integrated into a transmission electron microscope. Supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) through the Cluster of Excellence quantA and from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

E. Pescoller, S. Beltrán-Romero, S. Egginger, N. Jungwirth, M. Zanetti, D. Hornof, M. Seifner, I. Březinová, P Haslinger, T. Juffmann, J. Kofler, D. Rätzel, P. Schindler 
Phys. Rev. Lett. 2026 https://doi.org/10.1103/w6t7-9txs, opens an external URL in a new window