With this CAREER award, the Chemical Structure, Dynamic & Mechanism B Program of the Chemistry Division is supporting the research of Professor Danna Freedman at Northwestern University to develop and understand the smallest unit of a quantum computer, the qubit. Quantum computers can be vastly more efficient than current computers. Research on quantum computer is at the very early stages and focuses on creating the qubit. Toward this goal, Professor Freedman is using synthetic chemistry with the aim of addressing the fundamental questions surrounding the creation of a qubit at the molecular level. Professor Freedman will integrate research and education through three new initiatives. In the first initiative, the primary literature will be incorporated into the introductory chemistry curriculum through a combination of demonstrations, lecture examples and student created Wikipedia pages. In a separate initiative, Professor Freedman will continue her work with the Museum of Science and Industry to design and implement a new exhibit, which features her research on magnetic anisotropy. Finally, Professor Freedman will be creating opportunities for students to present their research, including organizing a colloquium for inorganic students in the Chicago area, a symposium at an American Chemical Society conference, and a symposium at an European Materials Research Society conference symposium.
Any object that can be placed into a superposition of two states can be used as a qubit. Electronic spin is an appealing qubit candidate because the qubits can be manipulated by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and their parameters can be tuned using chemical synthesis. Yet, the synthesis of viable candidate qubits has been stymied by rapid decoherence of electronic spin in molecules. As such, the synthesis and fundamental study of molecules with long-lived quantum coherences necessitates rational synthetic design principles to inform and enable the design of future long-lived qubits. Professor Freedman will continue to develop empirically derived design principles, employ these principles to synthesize candidate qubits, and scale new systems to develop multiple qubits in a single molecule. Her research program could provide important insights into decoherence.
