Charles Black, director of Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage (C2QA), is applying decades of materials science and semiconductor research. C2QA researchers are investigating alternative superconducting materials, including tantalum, to improve qubit lifetimes and develop quantum hardware compatible with scalable manufacturing.
Materials Science Roots Shape Tantalum Qubit Breakthroughs
When Charles Black was a doctoral student at Harvard University, he used superconducting materials to explore fundamental physics questions. Back then, the materials served as niche tools for very cold environments, and Black never expected to work with them again after earning his degree. Thirty years later, superconductors have emerged as a leading platform for quantum computing. Appointed director of C2QA in June 2025, Black now leads a national research center using those exact materials to build practical quantum systems.
Before taking the helm at C2QA, Black dedicated nearly two decades to Brookhaven’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), a DOE Office of Science user facility. He joined CFN in 2006 as a group leader focused on nanoscale self-assembly for energy applications and later served as CFN director from 2016 to 2025. That hands-on experience with fabricating and characterizing nanomaterials directly informed his current approach to quantum hardware bottlenecks.
Overcoming the Limits of Aluminum and Niobium
After physicists at Yale University invented the superconducting transmon qubit, research relied primarily on aluminum and niobium for over a decade. Eventually, transmon performance plateaued. When C2QA launched in 2020, the center brought together transmon inventors and materials scientists to investigate whether the underlying superconducting materials were holding back qubit performance.
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C2QA researchers from Princeton University built qubits using tantalum instead of aluminum and niobium because tantalum has fewer oxidation states that degrade performance. Using characterization tools at CFN and the National Synchrotron Light Source II, the team achieved superconducting transmon qubits with lifetimes exceeding one millisecond.
Black draws a direct parallel to the history of the semiconductor industry. He notes that the first microelectronics transistors used germanium rather than silicon, and it was only through realizing silicon’s superior material properties that modern electronics took off. He questions whether aluminum and niobium might similarly be the “germaniums” of quantum computing.
Manufacturing Quantum Hardware at Scale
Improving individual qubit performance solves only part of the puzzle. Manufacturing quantum hardware at scale remains a severe hurdle for the industry. Between 1996 and 2006, Black worked as a research staff member at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he pioneered polymer self-assembly to fabricate high-performing semiconductor devices. That background gives him firsthand insight into the manufacturing challenges currently limiting quantum hardware scalability.
Today, C2QA spans 28 premier institutions across National Laboratories, academia, and industry, delivering breakthroughs in materials science and modular architectures. Black emphasizes a collaborative philosophy across the center, reminding researchers that quantum computing is one of the great scientific challenges of our time and that success depends on teamwork and shared effort.
Brookhaven National Laboratory leads the Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage
What is the Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage (C2QA)?
C2QA is a National Quantum Information Science Research Center led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. It brings together 28 premier institutions to tackle materials science and modular system architecture challenges in quantum computing.
Why are researchers using tantalum for qubits?
Researchers from Princeton University working within C2QA selected tantalum because it exhibits fewer of the oxidation states that are suspected of degrading superconducting qubit performance, leading to record-long qubit lifetimes exceeding one millisecond.
What role does Charles Black play at Brookhaven National Laboratory?
Charles Black serves as the director of C2QA and as deputy associate laboratory director for the Energy and Photon Sciences Directorate at Brookhaven Lab. He previously directed the Center for Functional Nanomaterials for nearly a decade.
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