Abstract: Quantum computers of tomorrow could solve challenging computational problems that are beyond the scope of today's classical computers, for example, materials engineering and energy technology to data encryption and financial modeling. Presently, the basic units of memory for quantum computers — qubits — are susceptible to noise, lose the information they store over time, are expensive to operate, and are difficult to scale up. These challenges, primarily arising from the material platforms that have been chosen to build current qubits, have limited the practical applications of quantum computers. My research focuses on building qubits from a new class of high-quality nanomaterials called superconducting metallic silicides. These qubits, made from nanoscale electronic circuits of the metallic silicides, will require less cooling, can retain information longer, and can be made with manufacturing techniques already in use by the silicon industry.

Bio: Preetha Sarkar is a postdoctoral researcher in Brookhaven National Laboratory's Energy and Photon Sciences Division. Her research focuses on building better superconducting and semiconducting material platforms for quantum computing device applications. Before joining Brookhaven, Preetha received her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, where she specialized in low-temperature charge transport in mesoscopic systems.