Quantum Information Processing with Molecular Lattices

Summary

The aim of the work is to develop theoretical tools to simulate and predict the behaviour of a one-dimensional chain of trapped dipolar molecules and to study the nature of entanglement as a design resource. In this device, individual water molecules are trapped inside C60 fullerene cages (also known as buckyballs), which in turn are inserted into a carbon nanotube. Such a peapod-like structure can be created using recent advances in organic synthesis. Remarkably, the quantum level structure of the guest molecule in the carbon nanotube peapod remains nearly identical to a free molecule, which makes this system a promising platform for implementing quantum information protocols, comparable to those explored with atoms and molecules trapped in optical lattices. Along the way, we are working to understand the response of the device to external electromagnetic fields, which could open the door to its use for precision electric field sensing with potential capabilities to detect fields from a single molecule.