Quantum computers promise to revolutionize technology, but first they must overcome decoherence: the loss of quantum information caused by environmental noise. Topological quantum computers aim to do this by storing information in protected states called Majorana modes, but identifying materials that can support these modes has proved tricky and sometimes controversial.
Researchers in the US and Ireland have now developed a method that could make it easier. Using a modified form of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) with a superconducting tip, they built a tool that maps subtle features of a material’s internal quantum state – an achievement that could reveal which materials contain the elusive Majorana modes.
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