By Amit Malewar 26 Aug, 2024
Collected at: https://www.techexplorist.com/superconductor-material-candidate-topological-superconductor/88384/
A topological superconductor carries quantum information and robustly processes data using a delocalized state of an electron or hole. A multi-institutional team of scientists in the United States, led by physicist Peng Wei at the University of California, Riverside, has developed a new superconductor material that could be used in quantum computing and be a candidate “topological superconductor.”
The scientists found that quantum states with clear spin polarization exist at the interface between two materials. This spin polarization could be used to create spin qubits for quantum computing.
They developed a two-dimensional interface superconductor by making the interface between the chiral material and gold very clean. The interface superconductor is special because its spin energy is six times higher than in regular superconductors.
The researchers found that the interface superconductor becomes more stable and robust under a strong magnetic field, indicating a transition to a “triplet superconductor,” more resistant to magnetic fields.
Additionally, working with scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, they discovered that this superconductor, made from a combination of gold and niobium thin films, effectively reduces decoherence caused by material defects, such as niobium oxides. This is a common issue with traditional niobium superconductors.
The superconductor can create high-quality microwave resonators with a quality factor of up to 1 million.
According to IBM, this technology has potential applications in quantum computing, a field that leverages quantum mechanics to solve complex problems more efficiently than classical computers.
Wei, an associate professor of physics and astronomy, said, “We achieved this using materials that are one order of magnitude thinner than those typically used in the quantum computing industry. The low-loss microwave resonators are critical components of quantum computing and could lead to low-loss superconducting qubits. The biggest challenge in quantum computing is to reduce decoherence or quantum information loss in a qubit system.”
“Our material could be a promising candidate for developing more scalable and reliable quantum computing components.”
Journal Reference:
- Cliff Chen et al, Signatures of a Spin-Active Interface and Locally Enhanced Zeeman field in a Superconductor-Chiral Material Heterostructure, Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado4875
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