Magnets are used in many modern applications, including smartphones, vehicles and solid state drives—where computers' information is stored. In quantum computers, magnets are used to enhance speed, said Ahmed, but their strong magnetic properties only work in low temperature.
Since 2019, the UTEP team has worked to create entirely new magnetic materials for quantum computing. In addition to operating in regular temperatures, the team has focused on magnets that are not made from rare Earth materials. "All magnets are currently made from rare Earth materials, and we have a shortage of them," El-Gendy said."We're going to face a problem soon of not having these materials to make magnets for any industry. Imagine if we get to that point."
After several years of trial and error, the team's efforts paid off. The final winner was a mixture ofknown aminoferrocene and graphene—and to El-Gendy's surprise, the material demonstrates extremely powerful magnetism. "I was really doubting its magnetism, but our results show clearly superparamagnetic behavior," he said."No one has prepared a material like this before. I think we could go make a quantum computer atBut much work remains. The material was difficult to make and the team is now trying to optimize the preparation process and continue improving the material's effectiveness.