Brilliant insights into quantum materials
Superpower for scientific understanding – Brilliant insights into quantum materials
Quantum computers are considered to be the new superheroes of the IT sector. The aim is to make them many times more powerful than today’s supercomputers. Certain calculations, which conventional supercomputer would need more than 100,000 years to complete, could be done in just a few days. No wonder then that they are surrounded by so much euphoria. Quantum computing has the potential to completely transform the world of IT, research and our everyday lives.
Communicating securely over the Internet, developing new materials, batteries and medicines – we can’t begin to imagine many of the applications that could emerge.
We are on the threshold of another digital transformation. Services based on quantum technology are going to affect business and industry, as well as our daily lives. Kai Rossnagel, DESY researcher and Professor of Physics at Kiel University.
New quantum materials are an enabling technology
For quantum technologies to unleash their superpowers, fundamental research is needed – especially to develop materials. New materials and innovative combinations of materials can produce surprising effects, such as increasing the error tolerance of qubits or paving the way for quantum processors that can operate at room temperature. But in order to use these new quantum materials, we need a thorough understanding of them – of their structure and, in particular, of how electrons behave in such materials.
Kai Rossnagel: “Storage rings and free-electron lasers provide analytical methods that help us to do this. They allow us to look directly into the engine room of quantum materials.”
These investigations do not require any superhuman powers, but simply the X-ray vision provided by DESY’s light sources. At FLASH and PETRA III, researchers are already using spectroscopic techniques to observe the movements of the electrons in great detail – and in the future this will also be possible at PETRA IV.
Brilliant light for deep insights
“PETRA IV will allow us to take these investigations to a new level. PETRA IV is the only facility that can focus a fully coherent beam of X-ray photons on the nanometre scale. Until now, this has only been possible in practice in the micrometre range,” says Kai Rossnagel. “In future, we will be able to measure individual electronic wave functions, including their velocity, direction of propagation and magnetic moments – the spins.” That type of information cannot be obtained with this level of detail using conventional spectroscopic techniques.
This means scientists will be able to observe, understand and better control the behaviour of the electrons in materials. Ultimately, this analysis will make it possible to design electronic components that make the most of quantum effects while remaining as insensitive as possible to interference.
PETRA IV superpower in IT security
PETRA IV can also be used for quality checks in the manufacture of semiconductor and quantum components. High-precision X-ray techniques contribute to the technological independence of Germany and Europe in this sector, as intended by the European Chips Act. By analysing microchips manufactured abroad, PETRA IV can reinforce the security of IT systems as well as enhancing national security.
The path to practical applications
Research into the hardware for quantum computers still faces a number of technical challenges that make it difficult to put them to use in practical applications:
- The phenomenon of decoherence: Quantum bits (qubits) are extremely sensitive to environmental disturbances such as heat, electromagnetic fields and radiation. The slightest interaction can destroy their quantum state. This leads to errors.
- Today’s quantum computers manipulate up to one hundred qubits. However, practical applications will require systems that use millions of qubits. Building a stable quantum computer that uses thousands or even millions of qubits while at the same time robustly correcting any errors is a huge technical hurdle.
- Most quantum processors operate at very low temperatures. The processors of a superconducting quantum computer need to be cooled to -273 degrees Celsius, for example. This is a technically highly complex task.
Heidrun Hillen
I am happy to answer your questions about PETRA IV.