ORNL’s Multicharged Ion Research Facility, or MIRF, can produce intense beams of highly charged ions. It is primarily used to study atomic physics collision processes as beams of atomic ions interact with atoms, groups of atoms, or surfaces.
Quantum physics describes the way nature behaves at small scales. For example, this includes describing the behavior of particles at the atomic and subatomic level. Many of the rules for quantum objects are counterintuitive to those in the classical world. The emerging field of quantum information science seeks to harness this behavior to enable applications that are impossible with classical technologies alone. The Department of Energy has identified four important areas of Quantum Information Science (QIS): Quantum Computing, Quantum Communications, Quantum Sensing, and Quantum Foundational Science.
