MIT-led team grows air-stable niobium diselenide under graphene for quantum circuits
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MIT-led researchers have developed a method to produce large, uniform wafers of air-stable, ultrathin niobium diselenide superconductor by growing it beneath a protective graphene layer. The team integrated the superconductor into a microwave circuit, where it retained its superconducting properties and exhibited high kinetic inductance, a key metric for quantum devices. The breakthrough, published in Nature, offers a path to miniaturizing quantum computing hardware, even as existing superconductors remain fragile and difficult to scale.
Graphene-Protected Growth
MIT researchers, in collaboration with other institutions, grew niobium diselenide — a monolayer superconductor — beneath a layer of graphene. The graphene acts as a shield against oxidation, which typically degrades the material within seconds when exposed to air. This method enabled the creation of uniform, wafer-scale films, overcoming a major barrier to studying and manufacturing these fragile superconductors.
Circuit Integration and Inductance
The team integrated the air-stable superconductor into a superconducting microwave circuit. Tests confirmed that the material retained its zero-resistance state and exhibited high kinetic inductance — a measure of its ability to store inductive energy. The research team recently reported that niobium diselenide’s kinetic inductance can surpass that of traditional Josephson junction arrays, offering a compact alternative for quantum circuits.
Quantum Device Prospects
The findings, published in the journal Nature, could accelerate the miniaturization of superconducting quantum computing hardware. Niobium diselenide’s combination of air stability and high kinetic inductance makes it suitable for ultrasensitive quantum detectors used in communications and cosmology. Co-lead author Xudong Sheldon Zheng of MIT’s EECS department stated that the material is no longer limited to small-scale experiments, opening new avenues for practical applications.
What's Next
The MIT team plans to explore larger-scale integration of niobium diselenide into multi-qubit quantum processors. It remains unclear whether the material can maintain its performance under the demanding conditions of commercial quantum computing systems.
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MIT-led team grows air-stable niobium diselenide under graphene for quantum circuits
