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Researchers have made a major advance in quantum computing with a new device that is nearly 100 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.

Published in the journal Nature Communications, the breakthrough optical phase modulators could help unlock much larger quantum computers by enabling efficient control of lasers required to operate thousands or even millions of qubits — the basic units of quantum information.

Critically, the team of scientists have developed these devices using scalable manufacturing, avoiding complex, custom builds in favor of those used to make the same technology behind processors already found in computers, phones, vehicles, home appliances — virtually everything powered by electricity and even toasters.

Led by Jake Freedman, an incoming PhD student in the Department of Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering; Matt Eichenfield, professor and the Karl Gustafson Endowed Chair in Quantum Engineering; and collaborators from Sandia National Laboratories, including co-senior author Nils Otterstrom, they created a device that is not only tiny and powerful, but also practical and inexpensive to mass-produce.

Their device uses microwave-frequency vibrations, oscillating billions of times per second, to manipulate laser light with extraordinary precision.

These ultra-fast vibrations give researchers direct control over the phase of a laser beam, allowing the chip to generate new laser frequencies with high stability and efficiency, all essential for building quantum computing, quantum sensing and quantum networking technologies.

Why quantum computers depend on precise optical frequency control

Among the leading approaches to quantum computing are trapped-ion and trapped-neutral-atom systems, which store information in individual atoms.

To operate these qubits, researchers “talk” to each atom using precise laser beams, allowing them to give the instructions to do computations.

Each laser’s frequency must be tuned with extreme accuracy, often to within billionths of a percent or even smaller.

“Creating new copies of a laser with very exact differences in frequency is one of the most important tools for working with atom- and ion-based quantum computers,” Freedman said. “But to do that at scale, you need technology that can efficiently generate those new frequencies.”

Today, those frequency shifts are made using bulky table-top devices that consume significant amounts of microwave power.

Current setups work well for small lab experiments and quantum computers with small numbers of qubits, but they cannot scale to the tens or hundreds of thousands of optical channels required for future quantum computers.

“You’re not going to build a quantum computer with 100,000 bulk electro-optic modulators sitting in a warehouse full of optical tables,” Eichenfield said. “You need some much more scalable ways to manufacture them that don’t have to be hand-assembled and with long optical paths. While you’re at it, if you can make them all fit on a few small microchips and produce 100 times less heat, you’re much more likely to make it work.”

The device can generate new frequencies of light through efficient phase modulation that consumes roughly 80 times less microwave power than many commercial modulators. Using less power reduces heat and allows many more channels to be placed close together, even on a single chip.

Together, these features turn the chip into a powerful, scalable system for managing the complex dance that atoms must perform to make quantum computations.

Built using the world’s most scalable manufacturing technology

One of the most significant aspects of the project is that it was produced entirely in a "fab" or foundry, the same type of facility used to make advanced microelectronics.

“CMOS fabrication is the most scalable technology humans have ever invented,” Eichenfield said.

“Every microelectronic chip in every cell phone or computer has billions of essentially identical transistors on it. So, by using CMOS fabrication, in the future, we can produce thousands or even millions of identical versions of our photonic devices, which is exactly what quantum computing will need.”

According to Otterstorm, they’ve taken modulator devices which were previously expensive and power hungry and made them more efficient and less bulky.

“We’re helping to push optics into its own ‘transistor revolution’, moving away from the optical equivalent of vacuum tubes and towards scalable integrated photonic technologies,” Otterstorm said.

The team is now developing fully integrated photonic circuits that combine frequency generation, filtering and pulse-carving on the same chip, bringing the goal of a complete operational chip closer to reality.

Moving forward, they will collaborate with quantum computing companies to test versions of these chips inside state-of-the-art of trapped-ion and trapped-atom quantum computers.

“This device is one of the final pieces of the puzzle,” Freedman said. “We’re getting close to a truly scalable photonic platform capable of controlling very large numbers of qubits.”

This project was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through the program, a National Quantum Initiative Science Research Center.

Physicists at CU Boulder have designed a new material for insulating windows that could improve the energy efficiency of buildings worldwide—and it works a bit like a high-tech version of Bubble Wrap.

The team’s material, called Mesoporous Optically Clear Heat Insulator, or MOCHI, comes in large slabs or thin sheets that can be applied to the inside of any window. So far, the team only makes the material in the lab, and it’s not available for consumers. But the researchers say MOCHI is long-lasting and is almost completely transparent.

That means it won’t disrupt your view, unlike many insulating materials on the market today,

“To block heat exchange, you can put a lot of insulation in your walls, but windows need to be transparent,” said Ivan Smalyukh, senior author of the study and a professor of physics at CU Boulder. “Finding insulators that are transparent is really challenging.”

He and his colleagues published their results Dec. 11 in the journal “Science.”

Buildings, from single-family homes to office skyscrapers, consume about 40% of all energy generated worldwide. They also leak, losing heat to the outdoors on cold days and absorbing heat when the temperature rises.

Smalyukh and his colleagues aim to slow down that exchange.

The group’s MOCHI material is a silicone gel with a twist: The gel traps air through a network of tiny pores that are many times thinner than the width of a human hair. Those tiny air bubbles are so good at blocking heat that you can use a MOCHI sheet just 5 millimeters thick to hold a flame in the palm of your hand.

“No matter what the temperatures are outside, we want people to be able to have comfortable temperatures inside without having to waste energy,” said Smalyukh, a fellow at the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) at CU Boulder.

Bubble magic

Smalyukh said the secret to MOCHI comes down to precisely controlling those pockets of air.The team’s new invention is similar to aerogels, a class of insulating material that is in widespread use today. (NASA uses aerogels inside its Mars rovers to keep electronics warm).

Like MOCHI, aerogels trap countless pockets of air. But those bubbles tend to be distributed randomly throughout aerogels and often reflect light rather than let it pass through. As a result, these materials often look cloudy, which is why they’re sometimes called “frozen smoke.”

In the new research, Smalyukh and his colleagues wanted to take a different approach to insulation.

To make MOCHI, the group mixes a special type of molecule known as surfactants into a liquid solution. These molecules natural clump together to form thin threads in a process not unlike how oil and vinegar separate in salad dressing. Next, molecules of silicone in the same solution begin to stick to the outside of those threads.

Through a series of steps, the researchers then replace the clumps of detergent molecules with air. That leaves silicone surrounding a network of incredibly small pipes filled with air, which Smalyukh compares to a “plumber’s nightmare.”

In all, air makes up more than 90% of the volume of the MOCHI material.

Trapping heat

Smalyukh said that heat passes through a gas in a process something like a game of pool: Heat energizes molecules and atoms in the gas, which then bang into other molecules and atoms, transferring the energy.

The bubbles in MOCHI material are so small, however, that the gases inside can’t bang into each other, effectively keeping heat from flowing through.

“The molecules don’t have a chance to collide freely with each other and exchange energy,” Smalyukh said. “Instead, they bump into the walls of the pores.”

At the same time, the MOCHI material only reflects about .2% of incoming light.

The researchers see a lot of uses for this clear-but-insulating material. Engineers could design a device that uses MOCHI to trap the heat from sunlight, converting it into cheap and sustainable energy.

“Even when it’s a somewhat cloudy day, you could still harness a lot of energy and then use it to heat your water and your building interior,” Smalyukh said.

You probably won’t see these products on the market soon. Currently, the team relies on a time-intensive process to produce MOCHI in the lab. But Smalyukh believes the manufacturing process can be streamlined. The ingredients his team uses to make MOCHI are also relatively inexpensive, which the physicist said bodes well for turning this material into a commercial product.

For now, the future for MOCHI, like the view through a window coated in this insulating material, looks bright.

Co-authors of the new study include Amit Bhardwaj, Blaise Fleury, Eldo Abraham and Taewoo Lee, postdoctoral research associates in the Department of Physics at CU Boulder. Bohdan Senyuk, Jan Bart ten Hove and Vladyslav Cherpak, former postdoctoral researchers at CU Boulder, also served as co-authors.

On Dec. 10, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights); Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (Oxford Saïd); and the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance (RHRN) announced a multi-year plan to host the Right Here, Right Now Global Youth Climate Summit annually on UN World Environment Day, June 5.

The annual summit will be jointly hosted by Oxford Saïd and UN Human Rights, with co-hosting support from leading universities worldwide, including CU Boulder. The summit will convene young leaders, scholars, policymakers, educators and innovators to advance human rights-based climate solutions.

CU Boulder’s support of the summit will be led by the Buckley Center for Sustainability Education (BCSE), which drives sustainability curriculum and experiential learning; the Center for African and African American Studies (the CAAAS—or “the cause”), which elevates equity and justice in global climate discourse; and the Conference on World Affairs (CWA), which offers a shared CU Boulder and community-based event platform for global dialogue and thought leadership.

“Young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow, they are the drivers of positive climate solutions today,” said Max Boykoff, faculty executive director of the Buckley Center for Sustainability Education. “The Right Here, Right Now Global Youth Climate Summit elevates youth voices at a moment when their leadership is absolutely essential to advancing collective climate initiatives that protect the planet and benefit generations to come.”

The summit will serve as a global touchpoint for collaboration and capacity-building related to human rights-based climate action across campuses and communities worldwide.

“The climate crisis is not only an environmental issue, it is a human rights issue that touches every dimension of social life,” said Reiland Rabaka, professor of African, African American, and Caribbean studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies and the founder and director of the CAAAS at CU Boulder. “This summit centers the voices and leadership of young people who are already shaping new, more just futures, especially in frontline and historically marginalized communities.”

The theme for the 2026 Right Here, Right Now Global Youth Climate Summit focuses on ensuring climate technologies for mitigation and adaptation are aligned with human rights obligations. It also emphasizes developing the tools needed to support a just transition to sustainable economies and societies that uphold human rights. The summit will explore the human rights risks and opportunities of current and emerging technologies, such as renewable energy systems, resilient infrastructure, data and early-warning tools and artificial intelligence, in the context of climate action and identify strategies to ensure these risks are mitigated and human rights are protected.

The summit will be hybrid, hosted physically at Oxford Saïd and livestreamed globally, enabling broad participation while limiting travel and associated environmental impacts. Young people from 12 regions will contribute through dialogues, case studies and presentations on the intersection of climate change, human rights and climate technology, highlighting scalable solutions that strengthen resilience and protect communities on the frontlines.

“CU Boulder’s sustainability vision recognizes that climate change is a global challenge, and we need to act from the campus to the global level to address this challenge,” said Andrew Mayock, vice chancellor for sustainability at CU Boulder. “By serving as a co-host of the Right Here, Right Now Global Youth Climate Summit, we’re helping to elevate international dialogue, shared learning and collaborative problem-solving at a truly global scale.”

In December 2022, the inaugural Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit was held at CU Boulder. The summit addressed the interconnectedness of human rights and climate change, bringing together some of the world’s foremost human rights, scientific, political, educational, cultural and industry leaders to outline and commit to specific actions addressing the harmful effects of climate change on human rights. In June 2025, CU Boulder supported the University of Oxford and United Nations Human Rights hosted during a four-day global summit on climate change and human rights, alongside the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance.

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Boulder’s bicycling community may soon see a big boon.

Giant Group USA, the American branch of Giant Group Manufacturers, one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world, is moving its U.S. headquarters to Boulder from California. Giant Group USA’s move is expected to happen in late summer or fall 2026, and the company is zeroing in on a location in downtown Boulder, according to the Denver Business Journal.

It’s unclear what operations in Boulder will entail and how many jobs will come to the city. Giant Group USA could not be reached.

“Giant will be yet another cornerstone industry partner and we look forward to welcoming them to our uniquely innovative and dynamic industry cluster,” said John Tayer, CEO of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce.

Giant Group, is, well, a giant bicycle manufacturer. The corporation says it employs 13,695 people globally, has manufacturing facilities in four countries and produces millions of bikes each year. Giant Group is also known for its bicycle brands GIANT, Liv, Momentum and CADEX.

Giant Group is known for producing an array of bikes, including commuter bikes, something that jives with Boulderites, as the city continues to develop a diverse transportation ecosystem, such as the Core Arterial Network.

“We’re the ones that advocate for those things and work with the city and county on those things. To the extent that we can bring more businesses (that) support those ideas, I think a lot of businesses support them, but that are even ahead of them and asking for them as well, it’s a great thing,” said Sue Prant, executive director of Community Cycles. Prant added that she hopes to partner with Giant Group in the future.

Giant Group USA is currently headquartered in Newbury Park, California, about 43 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Through the third quarter of 2025, Giant Group has reported a revenue of $1.5 billion, nearly a 17% drop from last year, although its third-quarter gross margin increased year-over-year.

Any bicycles, bicycle parts and accessories made in Taiwan by Giant were barred from entering the U.S. by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in September, based on allegations of forced labor.

In response, Giant Group said it has taken steps to uphold “human rights and labor protections” such as improving employee housing and covering recruitment, agency and government fees for migrant workers. Giant Group also said it instituted “third-party audits” and “continues to conduct due diligence to ensure compliance with international standards.”

Distinct psychiatric disorders have more in common biologically than previously believed, according to the largest and most detailed analysis to date of how genes influence mental illness.

The study, led by University of Colorado Boulder and Mass General Brigham researchers, could inform efforts to improve the way psychological disorders are diagnosed and provide insight for developing novel treatments that address multiple disorders at once.

The findings were published Dec. 10 in the journal Nature.

“Right now, we diagnose psychiatric disorders based on what we see in the room, and many people will be diagnosed with multiple disorders. That can be hard to treat and disheartening for patients,” said corresponding author, Andrew Grotzinger, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at CU Boulder. “This work provides the best evidence yet that there may be things that we are currently giving different names to that are actually driven by the same biological processes.”

Co-corresponding author Jordan Smoller, MD, director of the Center for Precision Psychiatry at Mass General in Boston, said the findings also provide key insight into the biological pathways and gene expression in brain cell types that may underly certain conditions.

“These findings provide valuable clues for advancing our understanding and treatment of mental illness with greater precision,” said Smoller.

The researchers, in collaboration with the international Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Cross-Disorder Working Group, examined DNA data from more than 1 million individuals diagnosed with at least one of 14 psychiatric disorders and 5 million individuals with no diagnoses.

They found that five underlying “genomic factors” involving 238 genetic variants made up the majority of the genetic differences between those with a particular disorder and those without it. The paper groups disorders into five categories, each with a shared genetic architecture, including: disorders with compulsive features such as anorexia nervosa, Tourette disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); “internalizing conditions” including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder; substance use disorders; and neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Notably, the paper groups bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in a fifth category, reporting that 70% of the genetic signal associated with schizophrenia is also associated with bipolar disorder. The field of psychology has historically viewed bipolar disorder and schizophrenia as very different, and clinicians typically will not diagnose an individual with both.

“Genetically, we saw that they are more similar than they are unique,” said Grotzinger.

The paper also points to specific biological pathways that may underlie the groups of disorders.

For instance, genes that influence excitatory neurons, which are involved in transmitting signals across other neurons, tend to be over-expressed in both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, the research suggests.

In internalizing disorders like depression and anxiety, variants in genes that control non-neuronal cells called oligodendrocytes, were common. These specialized cells help maintain and protect the brain’s wiring infrastructure.

The findings suggest that some shared genetic factors play a role very early in brain development during the fetal stages of life, while others could have a greater influence later in adult life. This insight could help to create a more biological way of understanding psychiatric conditions and lead to new, more precise treatment strategies, the authors said.

According to one 2018 review, more than half of people diagnosed with one psychiatric disorder will be diagnosed with a second or third in their lifetime. About 41% will meet the criteria for four or more.

Grotzinger said it is too early to begin combining diagnoses based on the findings. But as researchers work to update the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the guiding handbook for the mental health field, he hopes the new study will be considered.

“By identifying what is shared across these disorders, we can hopefully come up with ways to target them in a different way that doesn’t require four separate pills or four separate psychotherapy interventions.”

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