IBM Researchers Have Created an “Impossible” Molecule That Could Power Quantum Computers

ricochet64/Shutterstock.com

The molecule in question is called triangulene

Chemists hate being beaten by physicists at their own game. At IBM Research, physicist Leo Gross and his team have done just that.

Gross’s team made a triangular molecule that chemists have found impossible to produce by conventional chemistry. To rub it in even more, Gross and his colleagues may go even further by using these molecules to create long sought-after quantum computers.

colorcorrected-1
Triangulene and it’s unpaired electrons.

The molecule in question is called triangulene. It looks like it was cut out from graphene, a single-atom layer of carbon with its atoms arranged in hexagons. But it’s more than that. The carbon atoms in each of the corners of triangulene’s structure are bonded to a hydrogen atom. Crucially, the two dots in the structure are free electrons, and that’s what has made the structure so difficult to construct. Electrons like being in pairs, so molecules with free electrons are highly reactive and thus unstable.

When chemists make molecules, they depend on chemical reactions—molecules are too small to manipulate directly. For instance, the width of a triangulene molecule is less than a millionth of the width of a human hair. But Gross’s team of physicists gained scientific fame in 2009 for building a machine that could image molecules at the atomic level.

Here’s how it works: First, the team deposits the molecule it wants to image on a copper surface coated with common salt, in a vacuum at very low temperatures. Then they introduce a very fine gold tip with a single molecule of carbon monoxide at its end. The gold tip is moved from side to side over the molecule, which is pushed back and forth by the repulsive forces of the molecules coming close to one another. The path the tip traces is read by a machine and then converted to an image.

Using this method, the IBM team has imaged iconic molecules like olympicene and even caught molecules in intermediate states of chemical reactions. What they get are grainy images, but for a chemist this brings textbooks to life.

_60537422_60529505
An image of olympicene. Spot the five rings? (IBM Research)

To create triangulene, IBM researchers acquired its precursor from chemists at the University of Warwick. This precursor had two extra hydrogen atoms where triangulene has free electrons. Like in their imaging studies, Gross and his team first deposited the precursor molecule on a copper surface. Using the carbon monoxide and gold tip, the team inspected the molecule. Then, with two precisely aimed voltage pulses down the tip, the team removed the two extra hydrogen atoms, leaving them with two free elections and, voilà, triangulene. The molecule remained stable for as many as four days.

“Triangulene is the first molecule that we’ve made that chemists have tried hard, and failed, to make already,” Gross told Nature.

Gross can be proud of physics for getting one over on chemistry, but this exercise also may have practical implications. When the team tested the molecule’s magnetic properties, they confirmed that the two free electrons had the same spin. Apart from carrying a negative charge, electrons can spin in either clockwise or anti-clockwise direction—and these spins can be manipulated. This practice has given rise to an emerging field of “spintronics,” where like the sequence of 0s and 1s govern the behavior of electronics, information can also be stored in the spins of electrons.

Using molecules like this may have applications for quantum computers, where only a handful of quantum bits are needed to create a machine that’s many times more powerful than the best silicon chip-powered computers. Even though creating each triangulene molecule by hand is a time-consuming and expensive, it won’t take that many to make a major scientific breakthrough.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.