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Charles Black, director of Brookhaven National Laboratory’s C2QA, is leading research into superconducting qubit materials and quantum hardware designed for scalable manufacturing. The center reports transmon qubit lifetimes exceeding one millisecond, while large-scale production and fault-tolerant systems remain longer-term challenges.
Charles Black, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage (C2QA) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, is leading research into superconducting materials and manufacturing approaches for scalable quantum computing. A report published September 30 describes the center’s work on materials such as tantalum and notes that researchers have reported transmon qubit lifetimes exceeding one millisecond.
C2QA brings together 28 institutions from national laboratories, universities and industry. The center, led by Brookhaven, studies how materials and system design can contribute to quantum computers that are both scalable and fault tolerant. Black became its director in June 2025; he also serves as deputy associate laboratory director for Brookhaven’s Energy and Photon Sciences Directorate.
One research effort has examined tantalum as an alternative to aluminum and niobium in superconducting transmon qubits. According to the report, Princeton researchers and collaborators studied how tantalum surface oxidation relates to qubit performance, using characterization facilities at Brookhaven’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials and National Synchrotron Light Source II. The report says the team achieved transmon qubits with lifetimes of more than one millisecond, which it describes as the longest ever reported.
Black’s role draws on work in nanomaterials and semiconductor devices. He joined Brookhaven’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials in 2006, led it from 2016 to 2025, and previously worked at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center from 1996 to 2006. The report connects that manufacturing experience to C2QA’s interest in quantum devices made with silicon-compatible materials and methods suited to existing production capabilities.
Materials and Manufacturing Limits
The research addresses two linked barriers to practical quantum computing: improving the performance of individual qubits and making quantum hardware in larger quantities. Longer-lived qubits may help researchers build more capable systems, but the reported result alone does not show that a scalable, fault-tolerant computer has been achieved.
C2QA’s focus on materials and manufacturing reflects the possibility that progress will depend on more than device physics. If quantum components can be made using materials compatible with established semiconductor processes, production could draw on existing industrial expertise. The report presents this as a research direction, not a demonstrated route to mass production.
From Nanomaterials to Qubits
Superconductors carry electrical current without resistance when cooled to very low temperatures. They became a prominent platform for quantum computing through devices such as the transmon qubit. The report says that after years of development using aluminum and niobium, researchers began investigating whether properties of those materials were limiting further performance gains.
C2QA launched in 2020 to unite physicists and materials scientists around quantum information research. Its collaborators include researchers who developed transmon technology. The center’s tantalum work uses Brookhaven facilities to examine material properties that may affect qubit behavior, bringing materials characterization into the effort to improve quantum devices.
“I feel like I’ve come full circle.”
— Charles Black, C2QA director
Scaling Beyond Qubit Results
The report does not specify how the one-millisecond lifetime result was measured, provide comparative test conditions, or identify a publication where the result can be independently assessed. It also does not quantify how much tantalum contributed relative to other design or fabrication changes. The reported lifetime is a research result, not evidence that a complete fault-tolerant quantum computer is operating.
It remains unclear which manufacturing processes C2QA may ultimately use, how well the reported devices can be reproduced at larger scale, and when the center expects to demonstrate systems incorporating these approaches. The report provides no timeline for commercial deployment.
C2QA’s Continuing Research
C2QA researchers are continuing to study how superconducting material properties affect qubit performance and how quantum devices might align with established manufacturing capabilities. The report does not announce a specific next milestone or date. Further details about reproducibility, scale and the performance of integrated systems will be needed to assess how the materials findings translate into practical quantum hardware.
Key Questions
Who is Charles Black?
Charles Black is director of C2QA, a Department of Energy quantum research center led by Brookhaven National Laboratory. He was named to the post in June 2025.
What is C2QA researching?
C2QA studies materials, devices and system architectures intended to support scalable, fault-tolerant quantum systems. Its network spans 28 institutions across national laboratories, academia and industry.
What did the researchers report about tantalum?
The report says researchers investigated tantalum’s surface oxidation and its relationship to superconducting transmon performance. It says the team achieved qubit lifetimes exceeding one millisecond, but provides limited measurement detail.
Does the reported result mean a scalable quantum computer has been built?
No. The reported result concerns qubit lifetime. The report says scalable manufacturing and fault-tolerant systems remain challenges and does not claim that a complete system has been built.
Source: rss
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