Chiral molecular 4f qubits by post functionalization

Area of Science:

• Coordination Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Quantum Information Science

Background:

• Chiral lanthanide complexes are of interest for optical and magnetic applications.
• Controlling the chirality and electronic properties of lanthanide complexes is essential for developing advanced materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize enantiomerically pure ytterbium(III) complexes.
• To investigate the spectroscopic and spin properties of these chiral ytterbium(III) complexes.

Main Methods:

• Post-functionalization of a parent Yb(III) complex via condensation with a chiral amine.
• Single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction for structural characterization.
• Near-infrared (NIR) Circular Dichroism (CD) and absorption spectroscopy.
• X-band pulse Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy on magnetically dilute single crystals.

Main Results:

• Successful synthesis of an enantiomeric pair of Yb(III) complexes, confirmed by X-ray diffraction in the P212121 space group with Flack parameters near zero.
• Observation of sharp f-f transitions in NIR CD and absorption spectra, indicating a chiral ytterbium environment with g_abs values up to 0.07.
• EPR spectroscopy revealed a phase memory time (T_m) of 600 ns for the electronic spin and demonstrated coherent manipulation via microwave pulses (Rabi nutations).

Conclusions:

• Enantiomerically pure Yb(III) complexes can be synthesized through post-functionalization.
• These chiral complexes possess unique optical properties and exhibit long spin coherence, making them promising for quantum technologies.
• The study highlights the potential of chiral lanthanide complexes in areas like quantum computing and sensing.