Quantum Ultrathin Superconductors No Longer Limited by Air

Researchers have created an air-stable superconductor only one or a few atoms thick, overcoming a major hurdle in the development of scalable quantum technologies. The team “grew” niobium diselenide underneath a protective layer of carbon-based graphene, preventing rapid degradation from oxidation while enabling large-scale production. This advance allowed them to successfully integrate the material into a superconducting microwave circuit, demonstrating high kinetic inductance essential for many quantum devices. “Emerging superconductors that are only a monolayer thick have a lot of potential,” says Xudong Sheldon Zheng, a graduate student at MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; “Thanks to our new process, they are no longer materials that can only be made at a very small scale.” The resulting niobium diselenide film,…