Diamonds are often prized for their flawless shine, but Chong Zu, an assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, sees a deeper value in these natural crystals. As reported in Physical Review Letters, Zu and his team have taken a major step forward in a quest to turn diamonds into a quantum simulator.
Co-authors of the paper include Kater Murch, the Charles M. Hohenberg Professor of Physics, and Ph.D. students Guanghui He, Ruotian (Reginald) Gong and Zhongyuan Liu. Their work is supported in part by the Center for Quantum Leaps, a signature initiative of the Arts & Sciences strategic plan that aims to apply quantum insights and technologies to physics, biomedical and life sciences, drug discovery and other far-reaching fields.
The researchers transformed diamonds by bombarding them with nitrogen atoms. Some of those nitrogen atoms dislodge carbon atoms, creating flaws in an otherwise perfect crystal. The resulting gaps are filled with electrons that have their own spin and magnetism, quantum properties that can be measured and manipulated for a wide range of applications.
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