WRIGHT PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) — The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, Nano Electronic Materials Branch, part of the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, used heat flow experiments to manipulate quantum materials into functioning in new and different ways at higher temperatures.
“The question we’re exploring in our lab is, what are the limits of cryogenic-free phonon engineering for shielding delicate quantum systems from the noisy thermal environment?” said Dr. Chandriker Kavir Dass, AFRL researcher.
Quantum information science is a research field involving the generation, manipulation, and measurement of quantum systems, such as single atoms, atomic defects in solid-state crystalline materials, or superconducting electronic circuits. AFRL researchers are particularly interested in solid-state quantum science, a field that explores quantum physics in crystalline materials such as 2-D materials, silicon carbide, and diamond — innovative materials with large potential for future technologies. However, working with the quantum systems in these solid-state platforms is complicated, especially at room temperature.