Researchers Synthesize Copper Compound to Perform as Quantum Computing Unit

(Phys.org) Chemists at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena (Germany) have now synthesised a molecule that can perform the function of a computing unit in a quantum computer. This molecule is what is called a coordination compound, containing both organic and metallic parts.
Benjamin Kintzel, who played a leading role in producing the molecule explained the importance. “In our case, this is a trinuclear copper complex. What is special about it is that within the molecule, the copper ions form a precise equilateral triangle.” Only in this way the electron spins of the three copper nuclei can interact so strongly that the molecule develops a spin state, which makes it a qubit that can be manipulated from the outside.