Dr. Kevin Roccapriore is founder and CEO of AtomQ, a startup focused on building scalable quantum technologies using a new manufacturing platform which spun out of his time as research staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Earning a PhD in Physics in 2018, Kevin transitioned to ORNL for his post-doc followed by staff position in the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) and Data NanoAnalytics (DNA) groups, residing within the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences. Here he utilized advanced techniques in STEM such as 4D-STEM and monochromated electron energy loss spectroscopy, and combined them with machine learning for automated experimentation, with applications in physical discovery, nanophotonics, catalysis, as well as atomic manipulation. There he discovered several key principles of electron beam control and beam-matter interaction that led to the realization that scalable atomic engineering was achievable, consequently leading to the formation of AtomQ. Supported by the DOE’s Lab Embedded Entrepreneurship Program at the Innovation Crossroads node, Kevin is partnered with ORNL to advance the state of the art of manufacturing quantum technologies atom by atom through a new architype: the use of advanced electron beam control in the STEM to directly reprogram matter and its properties at the atomic level – at scale – towards atomic manufacturing.
Presentation Title:
Manufacturing quantum technologies deterministically atom by atom in solids
Presentation Abstract:
A central challenge in quantum technologies is no longer only the discovery of materials that host useful quantum states, but the ability to manufacture those states with deterministic position, symmetry, coupling, and scale. Until recently, no technique has been capable of true deterministic generation and positioning of quantum states in the solid state. It was shown in 2017[1,2] that the highly focused electron beam can move a single impurity atom throughout the graphene lattice as well as other 2D materials, however, building any multi-atom configurations that were stable proved increasingly challenging and intractable. Our recent demonstration of mesoscopic atomic engineering in a crystal lattice[3] employs electron beam control protocols for precise control of the electron beam in space and time. Such control is then used to deterministically program atomic defect structures in the 2D layered magnetic van der Waals crystal, CrSBr, with atomic precision across technologically relevant length scales. For the first time, stable, ordered atomic arrays – consisting of thousands of identical atomic defects – have been constructed in a crystal lattice.
For magnetic semiconductors such as CrSBr, this opens a path toward designer defect arrays for quantum sensing, tunable light–matter interactions, and eventually coupled solid-state qubit architectures. I will discuss the breakthroughs[4] that have led to and enabled this manufacturing pathway in the aberration corrected electron microscope, and how deterministic atomic engineering enables a new design loop for quantum devices, and the degrees of freedom possible, including Hamiltonian engineering by inter-defect spacing control. I will also discuss characterizing the materials, choice of material, further scaling toward microns, and atmospheric stability. By connecting atomic engineering and manufacturing with patterning across micron-scale regions – as well as the critical fact that the structure remains air-stable – device-level integration becomes feasible. Hence, this work suggests a manufacturing paradigm for co-designed quantum materials: one in which quantum functionality is programmed directly into the crystal lattice.
[1] Susi, T., Meyer, J. C. & Kotakoski, J. Ultramicroscopy 180, 163–172 (2017).
[2] Dyck, O., Kim S., Kalinin S., Jesse S. “Placing Single Atoms in Graphene with a Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope.” Applied Physics Letters 111, no. 11 (2017): 113104.
[3] Klein, Julian, Kevin M. Roccapriore, et al. “Mesoscale Atomic Engineering in a Crystal Lattice.” Nature 653, no. 8115 (2026): 715–22.
[4] Roccapriore, Kevin M., Frances M. Ross, and Julian Klein. “Quantitative Electron Beam-Single Atom Interactions Enabled by Sub-20-Pm Precision Targeting.” Advanced Science 12, no. 34 (2025): e02551.