Air-stable, ultrathin superconductors developed for more scalable quantum devices

by Adam Zewe, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan

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Add as preferred source The new technique allows researchers to generate an ultrathin superconducting material (represented by pink and green spheres) underneath another anatomically thin material—carbon-based graphene (grey). Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT Super-thin superconducting materials, which are only one or a few atoms thick, have unique properties scientists can leverage to produce more compact, scalable, and efficient quantum devices. But these fragile materials degrade so rapidly in air that they are difficult to study or manufacture.

Now, researchers from MIT and elsewhere have discovered and harnessed a method to generate a large, uniform area of ultrathin superconducting material that remains stable in air.