Germanene nanoribbons pave the best way for quantum computing

For those who begin with a two-dimensional ribbon and make it narrower and narrower, when does it cease being a ribbon and begin being a one-dimensional line? Scientists from Utrecht College and the College of Twente made one-atom-thick ultrathin nanoribbons consisting of germanium atoms.

They’ve proven that this method reveals superb properties that may be helpful, for instance, in quantum computing. Their work was just lately revealed in Nature Communications.

Quantum methods have completely different properties relying on their dimensionality. Two-dimensional nanoribbons have completely different properties than one-dimensional quantum methods. Two-dimensional topological insulators are on the forefront of condensed-matter physics due to their distinctive digital properties. They’re insulating of their inside however have very conductive edges, the place electrical energy flows with none resistance.

Can we go smaller?

Due to these properties, topological insulators are candidate supplies for quantum computing and for the subsequent technology of low-energy electronics. “However as we attempt to make units smaller and extra environment friendly, there are key questions that remained unanswered,” says Pantelis Bampoulis, one of many researchers.

“Like, what’s the smallest measurement a topological materials retains its two-dimensional properties? And what occurs once we go smaller?” Bampoulis continues. The researchers addressed these questions of their newest analysis utilizing nanoribbons constructed from germanene. Germanene is an atomically skinny layer of germanium atoms with distinctive topological properties.

Germanene nanoribbons

“In our work, we made germanene nanoribbons. These are buildings which are only a few nanometers extensive however a whole bunch of nanometers lengthy. With germanene nanoribbons, we studied each theoretically and experimentally how the topological edge states change because the ribbons get narrower and narrower,” explains Dennis Klaassen, Ph.D. scholar supervised by Bampoulis and first creator of the research.

The researchers discovered that the nanoribbons keep their topological edge states all the way down to a important width of about two nanometers. Under this width, one thing exceptional occurs. The sting states you usually discover in germanene nanoribbons disappeared, and as a substitute, new quantum states localized on the ends of the nanoribbons appeared. These finish states are protected by basic symmetries and point out the emergence of a one-dimensional topological insulator.

Doable quantum functions

The top states are very secure in opposition to defects and different native impurities. This makes them good to be used in quantum functions, for instance, within the growth of error-resistant qubits.

“Apparently, these states are just like Majorana zero modes, that are elusive particles which have fascinated scientists ever since their prediction. Though we don’t tackle Majorana zero modes, our research offers a template for exploring such phenomena in a one-dimensional materials with sturdy spin-orbit coupling,” says Bampoulis.

“On high of that, the fabrication process permits us to make dense arrays of topological edge states the place present may move with out dissipation, fulfilling a significant requirement for low-energy electronics,” says Klaassen.