Carbon holds unique properties at the quantum scale that make it exceptionally well-suited for the next generation of sustainable computing. Unlike traditional semiconductor materials, carbon can exist in highly versatile nanostructures, such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and fullerenes, that exhibit remarkable electronic and quantum behaviours.1
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These structures allow for phenomena like ballistic electron transport and long qubit coherence times, thanks to low spin-orbit interaction and minimal nuclear spin interference. In quantum computing architectures, such characteristics make carbon an attractive candidate for stable, energy-efficient qubits.1
At the same time, the urgency for sustainability in computing is growing. The demand for data processing, driven by AI, cloud services, and IoT, is scaling at an unprecedented rate, with a corresponding spike in the carbon footprint of information and communication technology. Manufacturing contributes significantly to this impact, with embodied carbon from semiconductor production now rivaling or exceeding that of entire industries like aviation. 2
Why Carbon?
Carbon exists in multiple forms, or allotropes, each with unique properties that make them well-suited to advanced computing. Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, is incredibly conductive and flexible, with electrons moving through it with minimal resistance. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), essentially rolled-up sheets of graphene, are exceptionally strong, thermally stable, and capable of acting as semiconductors or conductors depending on their structure. Fullerenes have shown potential in photonics and quantum dot design. These carbon structures outperform traditional materials in many ways: they conduct heat and electricity better, tolerate stress, and scale more easily to nano sizes.3
Silicon has powered the computing industry for decades, but it’s reaching physical and performance limits. Compared to silicon, carbon-based materials offer higher energy efficiency, smaller form factors, and superior conductivity.
For example, CNTs transistors can switch faster and operate at lower voltages than their silicon counterparts. Additionally, the ability to stack carbon components in three dimensions makes them more scalable.4 In quantum computing, where minimizing energy loss and decoherence is crucial, carbon's properties offer a compelling advantage over silicon-based qubit architectures.2
Carbon in Quantum Computing
Carbon nanomaterials are well-positioned to support the next generation of quantum computing hardware. For instance, graphene quantum dots can serve as hosts for spin qubits, offering relatively long coherence times due to graphene’s low nuclear spin density and minimal spin-orbit interaction.5
CNTs can serve as superconducting qubit components or gate materials, offering high mobility and integration potential with classical circuits. Defects in fullerenes and other carbon structures can emit single photons—a key requirement for photonic quantum computing. These features make carbon a flexible foundation for qubit technologies across multiple platforms.5
These carbon-based systems offer a set of practical advantages. First, they show potential for lower decoherence, which is a major challenge in maintaining quantum states over time. The stability offered by carbon materials could reduce the overhead required for error correction, improving system efficiency.6
Second, the high mobility of charge carriers in carbon materials supports fast gate operations, which are important for executing quantum algorithms within coherence time windows. Finally, some research efforts are evaluating whether certain carbon-based platforms could operate at higher temperatures compared to conventional superconducting systems. While cryogenic environments remain standard, the ability to shift parts of a quantum system closer to room temperature could simplify infrastructure and reduce energy use.6
Energy Efficiency & Sustainability
Carbon-based computing technologies offer notable energy efficiency gains over silicon. Their electrical properties allow for lower power use during computation and can be integrated into less energy-intensive fabrication processes. This helps reduce both electricity demand and operational carbon, aligning with carbon-neutral computing goals.2
The environmental impact of sourcing and disposal is also lower for carbon-based hardware. Many carbon materials come from abundant or renewable sources, resulting in a smaller embodied carbon footprint. Their modular design also supports easier repair, reuse, and recycling, helping to minimize waste.5
Carbon-based components can potentially be made biodegradable or fully recyclable. By using sustainable materials and applying circular economy principles, manufacturers can reduce environmental impact across a device’s lifecycle. Policy incentives and growing renewable energy use can further lower total emissions from computing systems.1, 7
Cutting-Edge Research & Development
Progress in carbon quantum technologies is accelerating. CNT field-effect transistors (CNT-FETs) are achieving sub-10nm scale, pushing the limits of miniaturization. Meanwhile, hybrid architectures integrating carbon nanotubes with resistive memory (RRAM) have been demonstrated in commercial foundries, indicating growing industry interest.6
Another area of focus is the development of single-photon sources using carbon nanomaterials, which offer a compact and potentially lower-cost alternative to more complex rare-earth-based emitters. These devices are being designed to meet performance criteria such as photon indistinguishability, emission rate, and spectral stability—critical factors for quantum networking and photonic computing. Together, these advances highlight how carbon nanostructures can fulfill multiple roles within the quantum technology stack, from computation to communication.8
Several research groups and startups are leading the carbon computing movement. Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania’s Carbon Connect initiative is working on system-wide carbon-aware computing frameworks. Stanford’s Shulaker Lab has made breakthroughs in fully functional carbon nanotube processors. Companies like Carbonics are developing high-frequency CNT-based RF components, and others like Carbon Connect are focused on creating entire computing ecosystems grounded in carbon-aware design principles. These efforts mark a transition from lab demonstrations to practical, scalable hardware.
Challenges & Roadblocks
Despite progress, manufacturing carbon-based hardware at scale remains a challenge. Producing uniform, defect-free CNTs or aligning them precisely on wafers requires new fabrication methods. Variability in the physical properties of carbon materials can lead to inconsistent device behaviour, making mass production difficult.2
Integrating carbon-based components into existing silicon-dominated infrastructure is another hurdle. Most current fabrication lines are optimized for silicon, meaning new tooling and workflows are needed. Integrating carbon-based quantum chips with conventional silicon systems will require improvements in packaging technologies, and interface architectures to ensure seamless interoperability.9
Achieving fault tolerance and reliable performance with carbon qubits demands new error correction techniques. Additionally, standard benchmarks and lifecycle analysis tools specific to carbon-based quantum systems must be developed to evaluate performance, efficiency, and environmental impact fairly across platforms.2
Looking Forward
Widespread use of carbon quantum hardware is still years away but approaching steadily. Early adoption is likely in specialized accelerators and hybrid quantum-classical platforms. Within the next 5 to 10 years, we may see carbon-based qubits used in targeted applications like quantum sensing or secure communication, with broader deployment as fabrication matures.
Carbon is uniquely suited to serve as a bridge between classical and quantum hardware. Its versatility allows it to support both traditional logic and quantum operations on the same chip. This makes carbon an ideal material for integrated systems where classical control logic and quantum processors need to work seamlessly together.1-2
Carbon's quantum potential isn't just about speed or power—it's about rethinking computing from the ground up. With its ability to operate efficiently, reduce emissions, and support long-term reuse, carbon offers a path to a greener future. In a world where computing must scale without destroying the climate, carbon may be the material that makes both possible.
References and Further Readings
- Lee, B. C.; Brooks, D.; van Benthem, A.; Gupta, U.; Hills, G.; Liu, V.; Pierce, B.; Stewart, C.; Strubell, E.; Wei, G.-Y., Carbon Connect: An Ecosystem for Sustainable Computing. arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.13858 2024.
- Arora, N.; Kumar, P., Sustainable Quantum Computing: Opportunities and Challenges of Benchmarking Carbon in the Quantum Computing Lifecycle. arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.05679 2024.
- Sahu, S.; Tiwari, S., Carbon Allotropes: Fundamental, Synthesis, Characterization, and Properties Functionalization. In Carbon Allotropes, CRC Press: 2024; pp 41-70.
- Ding, L.; Zhang, Z.; Liang, S.; Pei, T.; Wang, S.; Li, Y.; Zhou, W.; Liu, J.; Peng, L.-M., Cmos-Based Carbon Nanotube Pass-Transistor Logic Integrated Circuits. Nature Communications 2012, 3, 677.
- Acun, B.; Lee, B.; Kazhamiaka, F.; Maeng, K.; Gupta, U.; Chakkaravarthy, M.; Brooks, D.; Wu, C.-J. In Carbon Explorer: A Holistic Framework for Designing Carbon Aware Datacenters, Proceedings of the 28th ACM International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems, Volume 2, 2023; pp 118-132.
- Hills, G.; Bardon, M. G.; Doornbos, G.; Yakimets, D.; Schuddinck, P.; Baert, R.; Jang, D.; Mattii, L.; Sherazi, S. M. Y.; Rodopoulos, D., Understanding Energy Efficiency Benefits of Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors for Digital Vlsi. IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology 2018, 17, 1259-1269.
- Dodge, J.; Prewitt, T.; Tachet des Combes, R.; Odmark, E.; Schwartz, R.; Strubell, E.; Luccioni, A. S.; Smith, N. A.; DeCario, N.; Buchanan, W. In Measuring the Carbon Intensity of Ai in Cloud Instances, Proceedings of the 2022 ACM conference on fairness, accountability, and transparency, 2022; pp 1877-1894.
- Esmann, M.; Wein, S. C.; Antón‐Solanas, C., Solid‐State Single‐Photon Sources: Recent Advances for Novel Quantum Materials. Advanced Functional Materials 2024, 34, 2315936.
- Cui, J.; Wei, F.; Mei, X., Carbon Nanotube Integrated Circuit Technology: Purification, Assembly and Integration. International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing 2024, 6, 032004.
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