Quantum computing hope for spin-protecting ultrathin films

The on-going collaboration between physicists from York University and the University of Wisconsin, USA, is focusing on understanding, tailoring and tuning the electronic properties of topological insulators (TI) - new materials with surfaces that host a quantum state of matter – at the nanoscale.

Understanding the properties of thin films of the new materials and integrating them with semiconductors is an important step in creating a materials platform for quantum computers.

In a statement, Prof Lian Li, from UW-Milwaukee, said, ‘The electrons on the surface of this material have some intriguing properties. All electrons are spinning in a quantum mechanical way, and spins are constantly knocked by random collisions (scattering).

‘But on the surface of a topological insulator spinning electrons are protected from disruption by quantum effects, called time-reversal symmetry protection. This makes the materials attractive for spin-related electronics, or ‘spintronics’, which would use the orientation of the electron spin to encode information.