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

在这个EAGER项目中，由化学系的化学结构，动力学机制B计划资助，杜兰大学化学系的James P. Donahue教授正在开发金属二硫杂环戊烯配位络合物的合成，以应用于分子量子位。这些分子以配体自由基的形式支持稳定的电子自旋，这些配体自由基通过空间弱耦合。 它们为量子计算提供了一个可行的平台，有望为规模和速度远远超过传统数字计算的计算提供基础。该项目为培养学生在合成有机和配位化学和表征的物理方法的教学提供了很好的机会。 金属二硫杂环戊烯配位络合物支持末端二硫杂环戊烯配体从烯-1，2-二硫杂环戊烯酯可逆氧化为稳定的自由基单阴离子，这些自由基单阴离子弱耦合，因此满足2量子比特系统的基本标准。这种相同的一般行为是预期为他们的更大的类似物，但关键的区别是，中央金属中心被选择提供一些机制，可逆地切换到自旋活性状态，与二硫纶自由基上的未配对电子，可以创建一个新的量子纠缠态的相干寿命，可以通过电子顺磁共振方法测量。 金属中心的转换机制可以是光激发、热诱导自旋交叉或氧化还原化学。 该项目的主要目标是在这些具有长寿命的分子中创建相干和可再生的量子态。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.