The race to practical quantum computing may ultimately be won by an unlikely material: diamond. Carbon’s quantum properties—specifically nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond lattices—offer a path to room-temperature quantum computing that other approaches cannot match.
Credit: Financial Times
Most quantum computing approaches require extreme cooling—near absolute zero—to maintain quantum coherence. This creates massive practical barriers: cost, complexity, size, and power consumption. Diamond-based qubits can operate at room temperature, potentially unlocking quantum computing for mainstream applications.
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers are atomic-scale defects in diamond crystal that behave as quantum bits. Their quantum states can be initialized, manipulated, and read optically—no superconducting circuits required. They maintain coherence at room temperature for milliseconds, long enough for useful computation.
The challenge: scaling from individual NV centers to the thousands or millions needed for practical quantum computers. This is an engineering problem, not a physics problem—exactly where technological development excels.
Strategic Implications
If diamond-based quantum computing proves scalable, it disrupts current quantum approaches dependent on extreme cooling. The asymmetric opportunity: companies and countries investing in room-temperature approaches could leapfrog those committed to cryogenic architectures.
Carbon could define computing’s future as silicon defined its past.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
