About the programme
A 3-year research sponsorship agreement with the University of Toronto — our first university partnership, signed in 2025. The programme pursues the electrical route of Delta's research: electrons in engineered gold layers, with the aim of coherence engineered by topology.
The research team and facilities
The programme is led by Prof. Harry E. Ruda, Stan Meek Chair in Nanotechnology and Director of the University of Toronto's Centre for Nanotechnology. His career spans early theory of electron transport in quantum nanostructures (IBM Postdoctoral Fellowship), II–VI blue-laser semiconductors at 3M, and three decades of research on quantum functional nanostructures, with 250+ journal publications and 14 patents.
What the research is investigating
The programme plans to arrange gold in engineered layers — drawing on the special behaviour of gold's surface states, including their ability to host induced superconductivity — and follows a published five-step ladder: establish the layer structure (patents filed) → build the circuit elements → engineer coherence by topology → demonstrate an addressable topological state → a scalable topological system. The first planned product is a topological quantum spin sensor. The confirmed invention's published title: 'Novel transducer structures for quantum devices'. Further detail remains confidential while the provisional patent application completes its 18-month confidentiality period.
Funding commitment and term
Term: 3 years (agreement signed 2025)
Funding commitment: C$3 million over the term
IP rights and exclusive licence terms
Delta holds a 100%-owned exclusive global licence over the programme's IP. The university receives a 1.5% royalty on net sales — Delta retains 98.5%.
Progress and published results
The University of Toronto formally confirmed the programme's first invention, 'Novel transducer structures for quantum devices', and a provisional patent application was filed (RNS, May 2026) . During the 18-month confidentiality window, the university and Delta are collaborating on potential follow-on patent applications within the filed theme.
Lead Investigator
Professor Harry Ruda
Harry E. Ruda received the B.Sc. degree (with distinction) from Imperial College of Science and Technology, UK in 1983, and PhD degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA in 1982. He was awarded an IBM Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, during which he worked on one of the first theories of electron transport in quantum nanostructures. From 1984 to 1989 he was a Senior Research Scientist working at 3M Corporation where he was a key member of their II-VI semiconductor blue laser team. In 1989, he joined the MSE department at the University of Toronto, crossappointed to ECE. In 1997 he was appointed as the Director of University of Toronto’s.
Centre for Nanotechnology. He has published over 250 publications in internationally refereed journals (with >2,800 SCI citations), co-authored 4 books and has 14 patents. Professor Ruda’s research interests focus on the fabrication, modelling understanding of behaviour of quantum functional nanostructures and their applications to nanoelectronics and nanophotonics.
Global Post Doctoral Fellows with specific knowledge in nano-technology highly relevant to the already developed IP have expressed interest in joining the team working on this technology once year 1 funding has been secured