Delta Gold Technologies Plc (AQSE:DGQ) (USOTC:DGQTF) has provided a technical update on its sponsored quantum materials research programmes at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and the University of Toronto (U of T), outlining advances that the company believes strengthen its intellectual property portfolio and long-term commercial opportunities.
The company said independent academic research continues to support its strategy of developing gold-based quantum materials for applications in quantum computing, sensing and communications, with multiple patent applications already filed and additional intellectual property expected as research progresses.
Penn State Research Supports Gold Nanoclusters as Quantum Materials
According to Delta Gold, Professor Ken Knapenberger, Head of the Department of Chemistry at Penn State and principal investigator behind the company’s three patent applications, believes gold nanoclusters represent a fundamentally different class of quantum material rather than an incremental improvement on existing technologies.
The research focuses on exploiting the electron spin of gold nanoclusters, which function as “super atoms” capable of storing quantum information. By inducing spin polarisation in the clusters and measuring photon emissions, the research team recorded approximately 40% spin-polarised emission during Delta-funded experiments. The company said this is believed to be the highest level reported in any condensed-phase system and exceeds competing quantum materials platforms known to the research team.
Penn State researchers also reported that the gold nanoclusters maintain spin polarisation over timescales considered competitive with leading quantum technologies.
Among the additional findings highlighted by Delta:
- Gold nanoclusters measuring around 9 angstroms in radius offer a physical footprint significantly smaller than existing microelectronics materials, potentially enabling greater device miniaturisation.
- Laboratory-scale production has already demonstrated gram-level synthesis using relatively accessible research methods, suggesting a scalable manufacturing pathway.
- Researchers have confirmed a spin-photon interface across multiple frequencies, supporting future work towards gold-based quantum networking technologies.
Delta said the three patent applications filed by Penn State will become part of the company’s intellectual property portfolio under the terms of its Sponsored Research Agreement and subsequent amendment. The company expects these patents to form the basis of a broader licensing and commercialisation strategy.
Kenneth Knappenberger Jr., Department Head and Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics, at Penn State, commented: “What we have demonstrated with gold nanoclusters is, to my knowledge, a first in condensed-phase quantum materials: a spin-photon interface that is simultaneously long-lived, high-purity, and potentially chemically tunable across frequency windows. The approximately 40% spin-polarised emission we have recorded has not been achieved in any other material system I am aware of. That purity matters enormously — without spin alignment, entanglement and coherence operations either fail or require error-correction overhead that makes scalability impractical. I believe that our work with Delta gives the QIS community a platform that can be made-to-order for the application at hand, and that is a genuinely new capability for the field.”
R. Michael Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Delta Gold, commented: “The findings coming out of Penn State confirm what drew us to this research thesis in the first place: that gold, properly understood at the nanoscale and protected through robust IP, is a potential quantum platform with structural advantages. We look forward to the next steps as the research advances.”
University of Toronto Advances Atomic-Scale Gold Research
Delta Gold also updated investors on work underway at the University of Toronto, where it signed a property licence agreement under its broader sponsored research programme and announced the filing of a provisional patent application in May 2026.
The company has now funded a second year of research and said encouraging early results could lead to the filing of specific patent applications during 2027.
Unlike the Penn State programme, the University of Toronto research uses Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), an ultra-high-vacuum deposition technique that enables crystalline thin films to be constructed one atomic layer at a time with atomic-scale precision.
While the research also investigates the quantum properties of gold and electron spin, it focuses on planar structures rather than nanoclusters. Delta said technical details remain confidential while patent work continues, although early experimental results have been positive.
Professor Harry Ruda, who leads the programme, commented: “We are encouraged with our experimental work in that it is consistent with our theoretical models for an opportunity to use the material science and quantum properties of gold and other materials with the potential for a platform for more stable and scalable quantum information. We see the opportunity for our structures to potentially be significantly more stable than other approaches. We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with the team from Penn State as a strong international group under the sponsorship of Delta Gold.”
R. Michael Jones, CEO of Delta Gold said, “Work at both Universities is moving faster than we had expected and it is very exciting to see the parallel approaches moving towards device designs and expanded IP. In the next phase we expect to see even further innovation come from the collaboration and we are hosting a meeting of our two principal investigators here in London in the next few days”.
Company Plans Expanded Research and Patent Activity
Delta Gold said it has agreed to expand its Penn State research programme to a value of up to $6 million over a period of up to six years, with discussions underway on extending research into quantum sensing and quantum communications alongside quantum information science.
The company also plans to work closely with the University of Toronto and intellectual property specialists at Haynes Boone on future patent filings, while continuing discussions with leading UK universities to build an international quantum research network spanning the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
In addition, Delta intends to increase engagement with government stakeholders across all three countries while raising its profile within capital markets.
Building a Global Quantum Materials Portfolio
Delta Gold Technologies is focused on developing and commercialising intellectual property based on nanoscale gold and other advanced materials for use in quantum computing, quantum sensing and quantum communications.
Its research programmes are conducted through sponsored agreements with Penn State and the University of Toronto, with intellectual property generated through those collaborations expected to underpin future licensing opportunities and strategic partnerships.
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