Physicists in the Department of Quantum Information and Matter at California Institute of Technology have discovered a new state of matter - three-dimensional liquid quantum crystals. The discovery promises progress in the development of ultra-fast quantum computer computing technologies and, according to scientists, is "just the tip of the iceberg."
Particles of ordinary liquid quantum crystals have a free-motion phase (since it is still a liquid), but at the same time they have some characteristics inherent in solids. Liquid crystals can be created artificially (they can be easily found in our everyday life, for example, in all displays of electronic devices) or found in nature, where they form biological cell membranes.
Liquid quantum crystals were first discovered in 1999. Their particles mostly behave like particles of ordinary liquid crystals, however, their electrons are usually oriented along certain axes. The electrons of three-dimensional liquid quantum crystals, in turn, can have different magnetic properties depending on the direction of their motion along a given axis. From a practical point of view, this means that the electrification of a material based on them will make it possible to turn it into a magnet or change the strength or direction of its magnetism.
Thanks to this feature, according to the researchers, three-dimensional liquid quantum crystals can find their application in the design and manufacture of more efficient computer chips. The discovery of three-dimensional liquid quantum crystals will also shorten the path to the beginning of the production of full-fledged quantum computers that can decode code much faster and perform computational operations much faster due to the quantum nature of particles.
Building a quantum computer is still an extremely laborious task due to the very nature of quantum effects, which are highly variable. Quantum states can be easily altered or even destroyed through their simple interaction with their environment. This problem can be solved using a method that requires the use of special materials - topological superconductors. And it is here that three-dimensional liquid quantum crystals can claim the main role.
"In the same way that two-dimensional liquid quantum crystals were once seen as precursors of high-temperature superconductors, three-dimensional liquid quantum crystals are considered precursors of the emergence of the topological superconductors we are all waiting for," says David Ce …
“Instead of relying on intuition to design topological superconductors, we now have a rational basis in the form of 3D liquid quantum crystals,” adds John Harter, lead author of the study and author of a press release published in the journal Science.
“Topological superconductors are our next target on the agenda,” concludes Harter.
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