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Silicon Breakthrough Quantum Computer Friday, July 02, 2010 - Anuradha Menon Home >> Picture Of The Day >> Physics   
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| An international team of researchers from the University of Surrey, UCL, Heriot-Watt University and the FOM Institute for Plasma Physics have used infra-red laser to obtain precise control of the quantum superpositions of an electron in silicon for the first time. This feat marks yet another leap toward the dream of an affordable, fast and reliable quantum computer. | ||||||||||
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In the quantum computing world, superposition is the ability of a "quantum bit" to assume two or more values at the same time; while counter-intuitive, this property forms the basis for the unique and extraordinarily efficient approach of this emerging technology. Precise control of superpositions has been achieved before, as was a rudimental all-electronic quantum processor, but this piece of research marks the very first time that superpositions are being controlled in silicon, which paves the way to significantly cheaper quantum computers. The team used an infrared, high-energy laser pulse to put a phosphorus electron orbiting within silicon into two states at once, and then went on to show that the electrons emit a burst of light at a well-defined time after the superposition was created, proving the full control over the quantum state of the atoms. (Source: Gizmag) |
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