A Large Quantity of Mineral Candidates for the “Quantum Spin Liquid” Potentially Useful for Future Quantum Computers Found in an Abandoned Mine

Researchers found large quantities of herbertsmithite, a candidate quantum spin liquid mineral, in an abandoned mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

The natural crystals appear to be purer than lab-synthesized versions, making them especially valuable for materials research.

The discovery could help identify more noise-resistant materials for quantum computing and speed up development.

The find came from a survey of the old San Francisco Mine led by Stanford-linked researchers, including Aaron Breidenbach.