Scientists in Austria are developing a new type of electron microscope that works together with a quantum computer, potentially allowing researchers to extract much more information from each electron while reducing damage to fragile samples.
The concept combines electron microscopy with trapped-ion quantum computing. Instead of merely counting electrons after they interact with a sample, the system would preserve and process some of the quantum information carried by those electrons.
Researchers from TU Wien, the University of Vienna, Johannes Kepler University Linz and the University of Innsbruck developed the approach, and a prototype quantum-computer-assisted electron microscope is now being constructed at TU Wien.
If successful, the technology could provide clearer images using fewer electrons โ an important advantage when examining delicate biological structures such as individual proteins.
Why Electron Microscopy Has a Problem
Electron microscopes can reveal objects and structures far smaller than those visible with conventional light microscopes.
Modern instruments can resolve features on the scale of individual atoms.
But achieving such extraordinary resolution often requires directing large numbers of electrons at a sample.
That creates a problem.
Electrons can damage sensitive materials as they pass through them. Biological samples, including proteins and other molecular structures, can be particularly vulnerable.
Researchers therefore face a fundamental trade-off: increasing the number of electrons improves the available signal, but too many electrons can alter or destroy the object being studied.
The Austrian team wants to overcome this limitation by obtaining more information from fewer electrons.
Electrons Carry More Than an Image Signal
In conventional electron microscopy, electrons interact with a sample and are subsequently detected.
The resulting measurements are combined to construct an image.
However, according to the researchers, an electron contains additional quantum information that conventional microscopy does not fully exploit.
Their proposal is to connect the electron microscope to a quantum computer capable of storing and processing some of this otherwise unused information.
The quantum computer would be based on trapped ions positioned so that they can interact with electrons travelling through the microscope.
This creates a bridge between electron microscopy and quantum information processing.
Entangling Electrons With a Quantum Computer
A central component of the proposed system is quantum entanglement.
When an electron interacts with one of the trapped ions, the electron and ion can become entangled, meaning their quantum states become correlated.
Information carried by the electron can therefore become encoded in the state of the ion.
After the first electron passes through the system, another electron can interact with the quantum computer in a similar way.
By repeating this process, information from multiple electrons can be accumulated inside the quantum system rather than being treated as entirely separate measurements.
This gives researchers a new way to combine weak signals.
Combining Information From Multiple Electrons
The researchers designed quantum-computing operations that can process information gathered from successive electrons.
Instead of simply counting each electron independently, the system uses carefully chosen quantum operations to combine their information.
According to the team, this could maximise the useful signal even when relatively few electrons are used.
The algorithms required for this processing were developed with researchers at Johannes Kepler University Linz.
The underlying microscope would still use electrons to probe microscopic objects in essentially the same way as conventional electron microscopy.
The major difference is what happens to the quantum information carried by those electrons afterward.
Making Hidden Signals Visible
One of the most promising aspects of the technique is its potential ability to recover information that would otherwise be buried in statistical noise.
Weak features in conventional measurements can become indistinguishable from random fluctuations when too few electrons are used.
By storing and combining quantum information across several electron interactions, the proposed microscope could amplify useful information without simply increasing the electron dose.
Researchers say that details previously indistinguishable from noise could therefore become detectable signals.
This could help overcome some of the statistical limitations that constrain conventional electron microscopy.
Why Fragile Biological Samples Could Benefit
Reducing the number of electrons needed to produce a useful image could be especially important in biology.
Proteins and other biological structures can be damaged by energetic electron beams.
Researchers therefore often have to limit exposure, which restricts the amount of information available for reconstructing an image.
If quantum processing allows each electron to contribute more useful information, scientists could potentially obtain high-quality measurements while delivering a smaller electron dose.
This could make it easier to examine structures that are currently difficult to image without altering them.
From Theory to a Real Microscope
For now, the strongest results are theoretical.
The researchers have mathematically demonstrated that coupling electrons to a trapped-ion quantum computer should provide advantages over conventional measurements under suitable conditions.
The next step is to test whether the concept works experimentally.
At TU Wien's University Service Center for Transmission Electron Microscopy (USTEM), researchers are preparing to integrate an ion-based quantum computer directly into an electron microscope.
The quantum-computing component was developed by a team led by Philipp Schindler at the University of Innsbruck.
Building the system will allow researchers to determine whether the predicted information gains can be achieved in a working microscope.
A New Role for Quantum Computers
Quantum computing is often discussed in terms of solving computational problems that are difficult for conventional computers.
This project demonstrates another potential use.
Instead of simply performing a calculation after an experiment has been completed, the quantum computer becomes part of the measurement instrument itself.
It interacts directly with the particles being used to probe the sample.
This means quantum information technology could potentially improve the way scientists observe physical systems rather than merely processing data afterward.
The concept represents a growing field sometimes described as quantum-enhanced sensing and measurement.
Connecting Quantum Physics and Microscopy
The project brings together several areas of research that have usually developed separately.
Electron microscopy provides extremely high-resolution imaging.
Trapped-ion systems provide precise control over quantum states.
Quantum information theory provides ways to store, combine and manipulate information that classical measurement techniques cannot access in the same way.
Bringing these technologies together could create a fundamentally new class of scientific instrument.
Researchers involved in the project say this multidisciplinary collaboration is possible through Austria's quantA Cluster of Excellence, which combines expertise in quantum information, quantum computing and electron microscopy.
What the Researchers Still Need to Prove
The proposed microscope is not yet a demonstrated replacement for conventional electron microscopes.
Researchers must first show that electrons can be reliably coupled to trapped ions inside a functioning microscopy system and that the quantum information can be preserved long enough to provide meaningful improvements.
The experimental setup will also need to operate without compromising the precision and stability required for high-resolution electron microscopy.
If those challenges can be overcome, the system could demonstrate whether quantum processing genuinely allows researchers to achieve useful images with substantially fewer electrons.
A Possible New Generation of Microscopes
Electron microscopy transformed science by allowing researchers to see structures far below the resolution limit of visible light.
Quantum technology could now provide another major step by changing not how small an electron microscope can see, but how efficiently it extracts information from every electron it uses.
For delicate samples, that distinction could be crucial.
Rather than increasing the electron dose to obtain a stronger signal, scientists could use quantum entanglement and information processing to make better use of the electrons already available.
If the prototype performs as predicted, future microscopes could combine atomic-scale imaging with quantum computing to reveal faint structures that conventional instruments struggle to distinguish โ while causing less damage to the samples being studied.
Journal reference
Elias Pescoller, Santiago Beltrรกn-Romero, Sebastian Egginger, Nicolas Jungwirth, Martino Zanetti, Dominik Hornof, Michael S. Seifner, Iva Bลezinovรก, Philipp Haslinger, Thomas Juffmann, Johannes Kofler, Philipp Schindler and Dennis Rรคtzel. โCoupling free electrons to a trapped-ion quantum computer.โ arXiv, 16 January 2026.