QLC: EAGER: Engineering Control into the Coherence Lifetimes of Entangled States Using Transition Metal Ions in Molecules with Electron Spins

在这个由化学系化学结构、动力学和机制B计划资助的项目中，杜兰大学化学系的James P.Donahue教授正在开发合成金属二硫杂茂配位化合物，将其用作基于分子的量子比特。这些分子以配位基团的形式支持稳定的电子自旋，这些配位基团在空间中弱耦合。它们为量子计算提供了一个可行的平台，有望为计算的规模和速度远远超过传统数字计算提供基础。该项目为学生在合成有机化学和配位化学方面的培训以及物理表征方法的教学提供了很好的机会。它还有助于发展量子计算的队伍。金属二硫杂多烯配位络合物支持末端二硫杂茂配体从烯-1，2-二硫代醇到稳定的自由基单阴离子的可逆氧化，这些阴离子弱耦合，从而满足2-量子比特系统的基本标准。对于更大的类似物，预计会出现同样的一般行为，但关键的区别在于，选择中心金属中心是为了提供某种机制，以可逆地切换到自旋活跃态，与二硫杂环上的未配对电子一起，可以创建一种新的量子纠缠态，具有可以通过电子顺磁共振方法测量的相干寿命。金属中心的开关机制可以是光激发、热诱导自旋交叉或氧化还原化学。该项目的关键目标是在这些分子中创建相干和可再生的长寿命量子态。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In this EAGER project, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamic & Mechanism B Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor James P. Donahue of the Department of Chemistry at Tulane University, is developing the synthesis of metallodithiolene coordination complexes for their application as molecule-based qubits. These molecules support stable electron spins in the form of ligand-radicals that are weakly coupled through space. They provide a viable platform for quantum computing, which promises to provide a basis for computing on a scale and speed vastly greater than that offered by conventional digital computing. The project provides great opportunities for training of students in synthetic organic and coordination chemistry and for the teaching of physical methods of characterization. It also helps to develop a workforce on quantum computing.Metallodithiolene coordination complexes support reversible oxidation of the terminal dithiolene ligands from ene-1,2-dithiolates to stable radical monoanions which weakly couple and thus meet the fundamental criterion for a 2-qubit system. This same general behavior is anticipated for their larger analogs but with the key difference that the central metal center is chosen to provide some mechanism for switching reversibly to a spin active state that, in conjunction with unpaired electrons on the dithiolene radicals, can create a new quantum entangled state with coherence lifetimes that can be measured by electron paramagnetic resonance methods. The switching mechanism for the metal center may be photoexcitation, thermally-induced spin crossover, or redox chemistry. The key goal of the project is to create coherent and regenerable quantum states in these molecules with long lifetimes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.