A team of researchers, including members of the University
of Chicago’s Institute for Molecular Engineering, highlight the power of
emerging quantum technologies in two recent papers published in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences. These technologies exploit quantum
mechanics, the physics that dominates the atomic world, to perform disparate
tasks such as nanoscale temperature measurement and processing quantum
information with lasers.
The two papers are both based on the manipulation of the
same material, an atomic-scale defect in diamond known as the nitrogen vacancy
center. Both works also leverage the intrinsic “spin” of this defect for the
applications in temperature measurement and information processing. This
spintronics approach involves understanding and manipulating the spin of
electronics for technological advancement.