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Researchers Demonstrate Robust Topological Currents in Damaged Quantum Devices
Scientists have experimentally confirmed that topological chiral edge currents in Chern insulators can bypass physical cuts, offering a potential path for future low-power quantum chips.
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Illustrative image; not a photograph of this reported event. Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels
The Brief
People's Daily reported that a research team led by Professor Wang Jian at Peking University, in collaboration with Nanjing University professors Song Fengqi and Fei Fucong, carved deep trenches through magnetic topological quantum devices and observed that topological chiral edge currents continued to transmit unidirectionally with virtually no energy loss.
To conduct the destructive test, the scientists exfoliated the magnetic topological material MnBi2Te4 down to thicknesses of 7.0 to 8.6 nanometers, fabricated electrodes, and placed the system into a Chern insulator state under a perpendicular magnetic field at -271.15 degrees Celsius.
Using an atomic force microscope tip as an engraving tool, the team carved trenches across multiple thin-layer quantum devices with widths ranging from 10 to 450 nanometers and lengths spanning 0.7 to 11.1 micrometers.
Measurements taken across various electrode configurations matched ideal chiral edge transport theory, confirming that edge currents bypassed the carved trenches and directly validating the principle of topological protection against physical damage.
Why it matters
Wang Jian stated that resistance to physical damage provides greater leeway for the structural design of topological quantum devices, which could help address severe energy consumption and integration limits caused by component heating in current computer and artificial intelligence chips.
China context
Theory previously predicted that chiral edge states could resist local perturbations under topological protection, but destructive direct experimental verification had not been conducted earlier as quantum devices faced cutting, splicing, packaging, and bumps during transition to applications.
Key Takeaways
- 1Researchers cut deep trenches into nanoscale magnetic topological quantum devices and observed continuous unidirectional edge currents.
- 2The team prepared Chern insulator devices using exfoliated MnBi2Te4 material at -271.15 degrees Celsius under a perpendicular magnetic field.
- 3Experimental measurements across different electrode configurations confirmed that edge currents bypassed carved trenches, demonstrating topological protection.
Sources
- 拓扑量子器件领域获重要突破 — People's Daily · 10/23/2026