In research reported on August 5, 2026, researchers from MIT and elsewhere described a method to grow the ultrathin superconductor niobium diselenide beneath a layer of graphene on a silicon dioxide substrate. The graphene was intended to protect the fragile material from oxidation and to guide it into a smooth, continuous monolayer over an area larger than an inch, according to the account published in Nature. The team also reported an oxidation-free transfer technique and integration of the film into a superconducting microwave circuit, where the material maintained its superconducting properties and showed high kinetic inductance.

The researchers said their observations remained at the level of materials and circuits; they did not report a functional quantum device or a clinical application. The work could, in the longer term, support more compact superconducting quantum hardware and sensitive quantum detectors, the account said. The team also reported extending the growth approach to a broader family of monolayer quantum materials. The work was supported in part by U.S. agencies, the Schlumberger Foundation, the Semiconductor Research Corporation and the National Research Foundation of Korea, and used MIT.nano facilities.