In two new papers in Physical Review Letters and Physical Review B, UConn Physicist Pavel Volkov and his colleagues propose how to experimentally manipulate quantum quasiparticles in very thin layers of ordinary superconductors to create topological superconductors by slightly twisting the stacked layers.
These materials hold promise for improving materials we use in everyday life, says Volkov. Things already in use that take advantage of the topological states include devices used to set resistance standards with high accuracy. Topological superconductors are also potentially useful in quantum computing, as they serve as a necessary ingredient for proposals of fault-tolerant qubits, the units of information in quantum computing. Volkov also emphasizes the promise topological materials hold for precision physics,
“Topological states are useful because they allow us to do precision measurements with materials. A topological superconductor may allow us to perform such measurements with unprecedented precision for spin (magnetic moment of electron) or thermal properties.”