Herbertsmithite

Herbertsmithite is a mineral with chemical structure ZnCu₃(OH)₆Cl₂. It is named after the mineralogist Herbert Smith and was first found in 1972 in Chile. The mineral has properties considered, generically, to be of potential use in quantum computing.

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Recent studies at MIT have investigated purified herbertsmithite in a study to determine if it is a new state of matter known as a string-net liquid (see also: string-net). Current research is incomplete, however compelling evidence has raised the possibility that it may be this previously unobserved state of matter. Electrons in herbertsmithite are arranged in a triangular mesh termed a Kagome lattice. Electrons in many lattices form patterns in which neighboring spins point in opposite directions; this requires that looped paths contain even numbers of atoms, so that their spins can always alternate from one to the next. Theory predicts that a Kagome lattice, which contains odd-numbered loops, can support a string-net electronic state.

References

• Herbertsmithite at mindat.org
• webmineral.com Has information on Herbertsmithite . Accessed March 2007
• "The universe is a string-net liquid". New Scientist.
• Spin Dynamics of the Spin-1/2 Kagome Lattice Antiferromagnet ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2
• Ground state and excitation properties of the quantum kagomé system ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2 investigated by local probes