INTERESTING ENGINEERING - Quantum computing’s ability to solve problems that would take classical computers millennia has captured global interest.
But the path to functional, scalable quantum machines has been riddled with fundamental challenges.
At the heart of the problem lies the qubit, the quantum version of a digital bit.
Qubits can exist in multiple states simultaneously, but this delicate state, known as quantum coherence, is extremely sensitive to environmental interference.
Even atomic-scale flaws in the materials that host qubits can disrupt performance.
A physicist at the University of California, Riverside, may have cracked this persistent problem by adding a layer of gold just a few atoms thick.
Quantum computers rely on superconducting materials to manipulate and preserve qubits, which hold quantum information.
But imperfections at the surface of these superconductors have long created instability, introducing noise and causing fragile quantum states to collapse.
That flaw has prevented reliable scaling of quantum systems.
Peng Wei, associate professor of physics at UC Riverside, has developed a technique to coat niobium, one of the most widely used superconducting metals, with a uniform, ultra-thin gold layer.