Atomically Thin Materials Significantly Shrink Qubits
Summary
IEEE Spectrum reports MIT researchers are using two-dimensional materials as ultra-thin insulators in superconducting qubit capacitors to shrink qubits and reduce cross-talk. The work centers on hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) as a low-defect insulator, paired with niobium diselenide as a 2D superconductor, to improve capacitor performance. While wafer-scale fabrication and assembly in inert environments pose challenges, the results point toward a path for scalable quantum hardware using layered 2D materials.