Rensselaer Research Unlocks Properties for Quantum Information Storage & Computing

(Phys.org) Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have come up with a way to manipulate tungsten diselenide (WSe2) —a promising two-dimensional material—to further unlock its potential to enable faster, more efficient computing, and even quantum information processing and storage.
Shi and his research team, in partnership with staff from the clean room facilities within the Center for Materials, Devices, and Integrated Systems at Rensselaer, have developed a method to isolate these thin layers of WSe2 from crystals so they can stack them on top of other atomically thin materials such as boron nitride and graphene.
“We found the sweet spot,” Shi said. “We found a new quasiparticle that has a quantum degree of freedom and also a long lifetime, that’s why it’s so exciting. We have the quantum property of the ‘bright’ exciton, but also have the long lifetime of the ‘dark’ exciton.”
The team’s findings, Shi said, lay the foundation for future development toward the next generation of computing and storage devices.