Microscopic ‘donuts’ a treat for quantum tech

Rice, Oak Ridge scientists study potential of synthetic strain engineering in 2D materials

Dedicating dollars to “donuts,” scientists at Rice University are helping a national laboratory bring about a revolution in electronics and, perhaps, quantum computing.

By patterning nanoscale donuts into a two-dimensional crystal, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and their colleagues, including theoretical scientists at Rice’s Brown School of Engineering, have achieved a new level of control over its electrical and optical properties.

As researchers eye nanoscale materials for applications like quantum information processing, a method to tailor them from the bottom up will make them more practical.

The research team, which includes Rice materials theorist Boris Yakobson and graduate students Nitant Gupta and Henry Yu, published its results in Science Advances.

– See more at Rice News