I Found Ultra-Pure Quantum Crystals in an Abandoned Mine in the Atacama Desert
Dr. Aaron Breidenbach discovered ultra-pure natural Herbertsmithite crystals in an abandoned mine in Chile's Atacama Desert, a rare find given that such quantum materials typically require synthetic production. These crystals, which may exhibit quantum spin liquid properties, hold significant potential for advancing quantum computing. The discovery highlights both the scientific promise of naturally occurring quantum materials and the environmental threats they face from mining activities.
- ▪Dr. Aaron Breidenbach found natural Herbertsmithite crystals in the waste tailings of the abandoned San Francisco mine in the Atacama Desert.
- ▪The crystals were identified using X-ray scattering in collaboration with researchers from the Universidad Católica del Norte.
- ▪Herbertsmithite is a candidate material for quantum spin liquid states and could play a key role in future quantum computing technologies.
- ▪The discovery site is under threat from large-scale mining operations that risk destroying these rare natural formations.
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Ultra-Pure Quantum Crystals from an Abandoned Mine in the Atacama DesertAaron Breidenbach17 min read·Jan 8, 2026--ListenShareA Two Part Post on the Immense Promise and Ecological Tragedy of Natural Herbertsmithite CrystalsIntroductionHello Everyone, My name is Dr. Aaron Breidenbach. For those who haven’t been following my journey, I grew crystals of Zn-Barlowite and Herbertsmithite in my PhD at Stanford. These crystals are candidates to be a new novel state of matter called a “quantum spin liquid” (QSL). I just published a paper in nature physics (free version here) with Young Lee’s Lab, providing the strongest evidence to date for the presence of this mythical magnetic state in these crystals.
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