Multi-terminal Josephson circuits supporting nontrivial Chern topologies for anyonic qubits
Abstract
This research project will exploit recent breakthrough findings of theoretical quantum mechanics to develop new physical platforms superfast information processing, known as topologically protected quantum computation. Researchers will encode information in for identical subatomic particles, known as non-Abelian particles, which can "remember" the history of their mutual positions and how they have changed. For this purpose, novel classes of materials will be developed, mainly novel topological insulators. Such materials characterized by a conducting surface and insulating bulk. Thin films made of compounds including such chemical elements are as Bi, Sb, Te and Se will be fabricated in order to achieve new topological materials with a highly increased ratio of the conductivity on the surface and in the bulk. The materials will be used to develop solid-state sources and generators of non-Abelian particles. Also, this project aims demonstrate the superior potential of multi-terminal superconducting circuits. Such circuits will be equipped with multiple superconducting to leads all connected to a nanometer-scale island made of a non-superconducting metal. The island will become superconducting by proximity effect. The island can be made from a topological material as well as a non-topological one. Such a multi-terminal junction the has been predicted to act as an emulator of novel higher-dimensional topological states, i.e., to mimic topological insulators. Such devices are expected to lead to novel efficient devices for topologically protected computing and help to achieve the goal of quantum information processing. Practical quantum information processing hardware will allow the encoded information to be read out and will provide transformative advances in several areas, including the design of new, functional materials and complex, multi-dimensional information-processing operations. Furthermore, the project has important implications for fundamental science; for example, cosmological models of the Universe could be mimicked using these new methods of quantum information processing. The potential impact of this work to the Army Research Office is tremendous, as the research is directly related to the areas of quantum computation, including topologically protected systems, as well as circuits that emulate topological-insulator devices. Furthermore, students trained by this research project will gain very valuable experience in the areas important to ARO, such as microwave electronics, quantum-coherent measurements, nanoscale electronic devices built with novel topological materials. This project will enable student hands-on involvement and and active roles in some of the most advanced technological developments in modern condensed matter and solid state physics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 14, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1910067
Entities
People
- Alexey Bezryadin
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign