Newly discovered CN complex provides a more durable quantum defect that may accelerate advanced quantum technologies based on silicon. Qubits can be based on atomic-scale defects within a crystal. A prototype example is the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center, which consists of a nitrogen (N) atom sitting next to a vacancy (V, a missing carbon atom) within a diamond crystal. These defects can interact with both electrons and light, which allows them to emit single photons (quanta of light) that can transmit quantum information or be processed in quantum networks.
Silicon has gained interest as a host material for defect qubits, because—unlike in the case of diamond—the mature fabrication and processing of silicon will allow scalable production of quantum computers and networks.