NEWSROOM

Quantum effects already underpin everyday devices such as transistors, lasers and MRI scanners, yet their full potential remains untapped. Researchers are engineering two-dimensional materials and quantum spin liquids to serve as building blocks for topological quantum computing and more stable qubits, combining theoretical modelling with material fabrication. Other efforts use quantum sensors to probe dark matter and read superconducting qubit data without disturbing it.

Researchers at the University of Osaka have directly observed a heavy-fermion state forming at the interface between a one-atom-thick ytterbium-copper (YbCu₂) layer and a copper crystal, using intense synchrotron light to probe electron behavior. They identified two distinct states, one confined to the two-dimensional layer and another extending into the three-dimensional substrate, arising from hybridization between localized Yb 4f and mobile conduction electrons.