The United States Department of Energy has announced a new step forward in its quest to secure a domestic supply of critical raw materials.
Through a collaborative effort between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the US has developed pioneering technologies to produce ultra-enriched silane (SiH4) and germane (GeH4) that are extremely depleted in noise-inducing contaminant isotopes.
“This advancement has the potential to increase the operability of quantum computers and will help enable the US to be the undisputed leader in the quantum technology race,” said Darío Gil, DOE Under Secretary for Science. “This is our generation’s space race, and with this breakthrough, we aren’t just competing – we are setting the pace.”
The materials will support the operability of quantum computers
These new materials are at least 100 times more depleted of isotopic noise than any commercially available material worldwide.
Specifically, the ORNL and PNNL technologies reduce the concentrations of the containment isotopes Ge-73 and Si-29 to below 1 part per million (ppm) in germane and silane, respectively. Additionally, Si-28 purity reaches 99.9999% in silane.
This milestone is key to increasing the operability and coherence time of quantum computers, establishing a resilient domestic supply chain and directly supporting the goals of the 2025 Executive Order: Launching the Genesis Mission.
“For years, the promise of quantum supercomputing has been held back by the microscopic noise of the physical world,” said Christopher Landers, director of IRP.
“Today, we have silenced that noise. By achieving isotope purities never before seen on Earth, we are hand-delivering the foundation for the world’s most stable quantum computers right here in America. This isn’t just an incremental step; it is the spark to ignite the next technological revolution.”
The first big leap in American isotopic development in nearly 30 years
Since the decommissioning of the historic World War II-era calutrons in 1998, the United States has lacked scaled, domestic stable isotope enrichment. By optimising modern Electromagnetic Isotope Separation (EMIS) and Thermal Diffusion Isotopic Separation (TDIS) technologies, IRP, ORNL, and PNNL have developed enrichment systems that exponentially exceed legacy Cold-War-era capabilities.
Leveraging the complementary technologies, capabilities, and expertise of two DOE national laboratories is crucial to produce the critical isotopes needed for quantum computing.
ORNL Enrichment with EMIS
The forefront of this revival at ORNL is the plasma-science-based EMIS technology, which can simultaneously isolate and enrich multiple isotopes of an individual element in a single production run. EMIS technology is highly adaptable across the periodic table with excellent single pass enrichment capabilities. Using commercially available feed materials, the ORNL EMIS systems achieve extremely high isotopic depletion of contaminant isotopes. For example, the EMIS germanium product has Ge-73 levels well below 1 ppm.
“R&D investments over the last decade have increasingly optimised the performance of these state-of-the-art devices and their versatility and precision are unmatched,” said Alan Tatum, ORNL Stable Isotope Portfolio Manager.
IRP Director Landers noted that “with these capabilities at ORNL, and the complementary capabilities at PNNL, IRP has the ability to supply unprecedented isotopic and chemical purities of silicon, germanium, and other isotopes in the physical forms needed for quantum research.”
This unprecedented efficiency allows researchers to concurrently harvest and produce highly enriched quantum-critical isotopes such as:
- Silicon-28: Used to support spin-free semiconductor environments and next-generation technologies.
- Germanium-70/76: Utilised for quantum computing
- Ytterbium-171: Used for trapped-ion quantum computing and memory applications
PNNL Conversion, Purification, and TDIS Enrichment
At PNNL, groundbreaking advances have been made in chemical conversion and purification of isotopically enriched quantum-relevant materials. PNNL developed highly efficient, high-purity reaction systems that now allow production of silane and germane gas from enriched materials in other chemical forms (e.g., SiF4, GeF4, and GeO2). After chemical conversion, PNNL’s state-of-the-art purification systems are applied to reduce unwanted contaminants in the silane and germane to well below 1 ppm. These gases are essential feedstocks used by the semiconductor industry to deposit ultra-thin films of silicon and germanium onto advanced computing chips and quantum devices.
Under IRP guidance, PNNL also recently developed and fielded multiple modernised automated TDIS systems that allow direct isotopic enrichment of silane and germane gases. Direct enrichment greatly reduces the chance of isotopic dilution from contamination.
“Isotopic dilution of enriched silicon is a challenging problem,” said Mike Powell, the project Principal Investigator at PNNL. “But we carefully designed our systems and handling procedures to maintain the starting feedstock isotopic purity through to the final silane and germane products.”
Under strict safety protocols, PNNL has developed automated control systems that monitor hundreds of process variables to safely manage the conversion, purification, and TDIS systems for silane and germane. Ongoing research aims to simplify the production process, minimise impurity risks, and secure a stable, ultra-pure supply of precursor materials not currently available commercially.
