One approach to making information storage in quantum computing less prone to errors is known as topological quantum computing. It relies on special quantum states that are expected to be more resistant to local disturbances.

Physicists at the University of Cologne have now observed quantum states that behave as predicted in a material system considered promising for this approach.

Their findings, published under the title “Tunneling spectroscopy of topological insulator Josephson junctions” in Science Advances, support a theoretical description of how superconductivity interacts with the surface of a topological insulator.