A new program from Microsoft applies quantum computing and AI-enabled chemistry simulations that could significantly scale the discovery and development of new materials.
Microsoft announced the release of the program, called Azure Quantum Elements, on June 21. The company says the program could help materials scientists quickly advance from thousands to tens of millions of candidates and speed up certain chemistry simulations by 500,000 times, according to a Microsoft blog post.
Microsoft has also designed the system to boost researcher productivity through automated workflows and the new Copilot in Azure Quantum, which enables the use of natural language conduct various research tasks, such as finding and visualizing data or quickly developing and configuring simulations.
“Our goal is to compress the next 250 years of chemistry and materials science progress into the next 25,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the announcement.
The system is built on Microsoft’s investments in artificial intelligence and Azure High Performance Computing.
BASF and Johnson Matthey have already begun working with the program. Johnson Matthey has been using the program simulations to discover and develop sustainable technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells and catalysts that can cut vehicle emissions.
Johnson Matthey can simulate much larger, more realistic chemical systems using the platform, said Misbah Sarwar, research lead for Johnson Matthey’s physical and chemical modeling team.
“If you think about the materials discovery process, you can go into the lab and tinker with different chemicals to try and make something, or you can use fundamental physics to screen the entire periodic table,” said Misbah Sarwar, research lead for Johnson Matthey’s physical and chemical modeling team. “Modeling lets you home in on the kind of materials that the experimentalists should be focusing on and, equally as important, the types they should avoid."