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Molecular spins for quantum computation

Nature Chemistry volume 11, pages 301–309 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Spins in solids or in molecules possess discrete energy levels, and the associated quantum states can be tuned and coherently manipulated by means of external electromagnetic fields. Spins therefore provide one of the simplest platforms to encode a quantum bit (qubit), the elementary unit of future quantum computers. Performing any useful computation demands much more than realizing a robust qubit—one also needs a large number of qubits and a reliable manner with which to integrate them into a complex circuitry that can store and process information and implement quantum algorithms. This ‘scalability’ is arguably one of the challenges for which a chemistry-based bottom-up approach is best-suited. Molecules, being much more versatile than atoms, and yet microscopic, are the quantum objects with the highest capacity to form non-trivial ordered states at the nanoscale and to be replicated in large numbers using chemical tools.

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Fig. 1: Molecular spins in quantum information technologies.
Fig. 2: Spin clock transitions.
Fig. 3: Manipulating multiple qubit states in a single molecule.
Fig. 4: Wiring up molecular spin qubits.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the COST Action MolSpin on Molecular Spintronics (Project 15128) and QUANTERA (SUMO project). E.C. and A.G.A. acknowledge the EU (ERC Advanced Grant Mol-2D 788222, ERC Consolidator Grant DECRESIM 647301), the Spanish MINECO (grants MAT2017-89993-R and CTQ2017-89528-P cofinanced by FEDER and Excellence Unit María de Maeztu MDM-2015-0538), and the Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo Program of Excellence). A.G.A. acknowledges funding by the MINECO (Ramón y Cajal Program). F.L. acknowledges the Spanish MINECO (grant MAT2015-68204-R), the Gobierno de Aragón (grant E98-MOLCHIP). S.H. acknowledges support from the NSF (grant DMR-1610226), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AOARD Contract No. FA2386-17-1-4040) and the Department of Energy (grant DE-SC0019330). Work performed at the NHMFL was supported by the NSF (DMR-1644779) and by the State of Florida. We acknowledge S. Cardona-Serra and O. Roubeau for preparation of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2a–d, and Fig. 4, respectively.

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  1. Instituto de Ciencia Molecular (ICMol), Universitat de València, Paterna, Spain

    A. Gaita-Ariño & E. Coronado

  2. Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón (ICMA), CSIC – Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    F. Luis

  3. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    S. Hill

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Gaita-Ariño, A., Luis, F., Hill, S. et al. Molecular spins for quantum computation. Nat. Chem. 11, 301–309 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0232-y

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