China enhances quantum technology with high-purity silicon-28 production

Researchers in China have achieved a major milestone in the production of silicon-28, a critical material used in silicon-based quantum chips. The development was announced by the China National Nuclear Corporation and marks the first successful independent mass production of the isotope with a purity level exceeding 99.99 per cent, reports Xinhua News Agency, a partner of TV BRICS.

Specialists noted that the advancement will strengthen China’s capabilities in the development of key materials for silicon-based quantum computing while also supporting progress in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, high-precision navigation systems, and measurement technologies.

Silicon-28 is regarded as a strategically important material because of its ability to reduce environmental noise that can affect quantum systems. Often described by experts as the "purest silicon", the stable isotope is considered essential for the creation of next-generation silicon-based quantum chips. According to Yu Dapeng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the achievement creates new opportunities for scalable quantum bit control in silicon-based quantum computing.

The successful transition from laboratory research to large-scale production followed years of scientific work. Researchers are now planning to expand work on a wider range of stable isotope products to support scientific and technological applications in nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, aerospace, quantum information, particle physics, and deep-space exploration.

Experts emphasise that stable isotopes play an important role in fields ranging from medical imaging and precision radiotherapy to environmental monitoring and fundamental physics research. To date, the institute has developed technologies enabling the production of 26 stable isotopes across 12 chemical elements, including molybdenum, tellurium, nickel, zinc, silicon, and ytterbium, further strengthening the country’s scientific and technological capabilities.