A research collaboration in Austria is advancing electron microscopy by coupling it with a quantum computer to extract more information from each electron.

The project has moved from theoretical proofs to plans for experimental demonstration, with integration efforts at TU Wien’s USTEM facility and contributions from teams at the University of Vienna, JKU Linz, and the University of Innsbruck.

If successful, the approach could yield higher-detail images using fewer electrons, which would benefit delicate biological samples and other radiation-sensitive materials.

By applying targeted quantum computing operations, the system can coherently combine data from multiple electrons to produce stronger signals with fewer electrons, potentially reducing sample damage.

The imaging process remains fundamentally electron-based, but the quantum computer processes otherwise lost quantum information to improve image clarity beyond conventional electron counting.

The method relies on entangling passing electrons with ions in a trapped-ion quantum processor, enabling joint quantum states that store and process information from several electrons.

The quantum computer component was developed by a group led by Philipp Schindler at the University of Innsbruck and is set for integration into the USTEM-equipped electron microscope.

Funding and organizational backing come from the Austrian Science Fund via the Cluster of Excellence quantA and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, coordinated by the University of Vienna.