How Would You Analyze Uranium Telluride (UTe2)?

How would you analyze uranium telluride? Your response is probably: What? Why do you ask? Uranium … with ICP or X-ray. But tellurium? I have a hard time recalling any use for it. It is a member of the oxygen, sulfur family so it is probably foul-smelling. But, again, why do you ask?

A report from NIST predicts that UTe2 is the new wonder material of quantum computing. The title of a press release from NIST on August 15 was “Newfound superconductor material could be the ‘silicon of quantum computers’.” It goes on to describe UTe2 as a solution to quantum decoherence.

Until now, the qubits (memory storage structures in quantum computing) in other materials did not stay aligned with neighbors long enough to be useful in a computer memory to finish a computation. Qubits in quantum computers need to function predictably with others to store data. In the jargon of the quantum computing set, this is called coherence, or entanglement. Decoherence is scrambling of the qubits, which erases the memory. In other materials, decoherence occurs nearly randomly, often initiated by small external stimuli. UTe2 appears to be much more stable. Plus, UTe2 is stable to very strong magnets, up to ~40 tesla.

These properties were not expected for UTe2. Other compounds with similar composition behave quite differently.

Want to learn more? See Ran S. et al. Nearly ferromagnetic spin-triplet superconductivity. Science 16 Aug 2019, 365(6454), 6847; doi: 10.1126/science.aav8645.

The take-home message is that if UTe2 does develop into a material for quantum computing, labs will need to develop assays for the main components, impurities, and probably defects. As with cannabis, new opportunities will arise. It is best to be ready to grab the brass ring.

With a smile,

Bob

Robert L. Stevenson, Ph.D., is Editor Emeritus, American Laboratory/Labcompare; e-mail: [email protected]

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