Quantum computers have the potential to revolutionize the world, but they currently only operate at extremely low temperatures, and cooling computers is expensive. A team from the University of Texas at El Paso has developed a new quantum computing material that can work at room temperature and is 100 times more magnetic than pure iron. It is expected to be used to build quantum computers that can work at room temperature. Relevant papers have been published in the recent issue of Applied Physics Letters.
Study leader Ahmed Elkindi said magnets are widely found in devices such as smartphones, cars and solid-state drives (hardware that stores computer information). In quantum computers, magnets are used to speed up calculations, but their strong magnetism only manifests itself at low temperatures. Therefore, current quantum computers must operate at an extremely low temperature of -272.78°C - only slightly higher than absolute zero (-273.15°C). For a quantum computer to function properly, the computer and all associated materials need to be cooled, which is very expensive. To solve this problem, the Elkindi team has been working on creating new magnetic materials since 2019.
Two of the team's focuses are: being able to operate at normal temperatures and being made from non-rare earth materials. Elkindi pointed out that all magnets currently are made of rare earth materials, and rare earth elements have limited reserves. After several years of trial and error, the team finally developed the new magnetic material. They used aminoferrocene and graphene to develop a highly magnetic quantum computing material that is 100 times more magnetic than pure iron and can work at room temperature. Researchers believe the new material could be used to build quantum computers at room temperature.
Still, researchers say there's still much work to be done. First, the material is difficult to make, so they are working on optimizing the preparation process. Additionally, they are continuing to improve the material's effectiveness.
