Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen MissBook for the clue delivery! CTOnews.com, Nov. 7 (Xinhua)-- the Ensslin team at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, used graphene to create the first superconducting quantum interference device to demonstrate the interference of superconducting quasiparticles. This greatly expands the use of carbon graphene.

The paper has been published in Nature Nanotechnology, DOI:10.1038/s41565-022-01222-0. This research result is expected to promote the development of quantum technology and open up a new possibility for the study of superconductivity.

In 2004, Constantine Novosholov (Konstantin Novoselov) and Andre Heim (Andre Geim) first created a two-dimensional crystal consisting of only one layer of carbon atoms. The material was named graphene and has attracted wide attention and development since then. Graphene is a new type of nano-material with the thinnest, highest strength and best electrical and thermal conductivity. With the deepening of the research, more and more characteristics have surfaced one by one.

Now, for the first time, ETH researchers have fabricated a superconducting element, the superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), from double-layer torsional graphene, which is used to demonstrate the interference of superconducting quasiparticles. In quantum technology, these sensitive sensors are used as qubits (qubits). These basic elements can be used to perform quantum operations and build more complex circuits.

According to the official press release, this result is first based on the research work of the Klaus Ensslin and Thomas Ihn teams at the ETH solid State Physics Lab. CTOnews.com learned that they had demonstrated about a year ago that twisting bilayer graphene could be used to make Josephson junction, an essential component of superconducting equipment.

However, the researchers are not satisfied with their breakthrough because the graphene SQUID does not have much advantage over the traditional aluminum SQUID, and like the traditional SQUID, it must be cooled to near absolute zero (above 2 degrees Celsius).

According to Enslin, they have significantly expanded the range of applications: "five years ago, we were able to prove that graphene could be used to make single-electron transistors." now we've added superconductivity to it. "

Graphene can vary between insulating, conductive and superconducting states according to the applied voltage. In addition, this result now shows that we can combine semiconductor transistors and superconductors in a single material to form a new type of SQUID.

"in quantum technology, SQUID can hold qubits, so it can be used as a component to perform quantum operations," Enslin said. "in addition, transistors are usually made of silicon, SQUID is made of aluminum, and different materials require different processing technologies, but now they can all be made of graphene."

According to Ensslin, their future research will focus on the advantages of using graphene in the same crystal to combine two quantum systems.

Enslin added that there are different superconducting phases in graphene, but there is no theoretical model to explain them. The latest results will also open up new possibilities for the study of superconductivity, with these components, we may be able to better understand how the superconductivity in graphene is produced.

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