Skip to main content

Quantum breakthrough: Scientists generate qubits within semiconductors

By

A significant step on the path to quantum computing has been taken by an international team of researchers applying a 22-year old theory. They have succeeded in creating quantum bits within a semiconductor for the very first time.
Classical bits can be assigned one of only two values which are typically used to reflect on or off, true or false, yes or no, and other binary states. In each of these cases, the first, positive state is typically represented by a 1, and the second a 0 (the word bit is itself a contraction of binary digit - binary numbers consisting of strings of 1s and 0s). In current electronics devices, the 1s and 0s are conveyed by voltage variations.
Like a classical bit, quantum bits (or qubits) take on values of 0 or 1, but unlike a classical bit, a qubit can assume both values simultaneously, and to varying degrees, through what is known as superposition. Superposition allows a qubit to be assigned the value of a complex variable, and this promises to one day significantly increase the computational power of computers - especially when tackling certain types of problems in fields including encryption and quantum research.
But qubits are fickle things, having a tendency to lose superposition under observation (recall Schrödinger and his unfortunate cat). Until this latest breakthrough, qubits had only been successfully created in large vacuum chambers. But by using a theory proposed 22 years ago by physicist Prof. Dr. Andreas Wieck of the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), researchers have used a dual-channel system to create qubits in a semiconductor.
Electrons are passed through a semiconductor until they arrive at a fork. At the fork, each electron takes both paths simultaneously. When the two paths are merged, the two electron waves interfere with each other, and, some of the time, qubits with more than one state occur, caused by the overlap of the waves. At this stage, only a few percent of electrons emerge as qubits, but the RUB researchers hope to improve on the success rate by employing semiconductor crystals with greater electron densities - the current round of research used gallium arsenide.
The research, titled Electrical control of a solid-state flying qubit, was published inNature Nanotechnology last week.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wind Turbines

By
The Bahrain World Trade Center is the first skyscraper to have wind turbines integrated into the structure of the building.Three large wind turbines are suspended between two office towers. The towers are aerodynamically tapered to funnel wind and draw air into the turbines. This airfoil tapering allows the wind to enter the turbines at a perpendicular angle and increases air speed as much as 30 percent in each of the 95 ft wide turbine rotors. The turbines supply about 15 percent of the electricity used by the skyscraper - approximately the same amount of electricity used by 300 homes. Source: www.norwin.dk
Post a Comment
Read more

New record energy efficiency for artificial photosynthesis

By
As the world moves towards developing new avenues of renewable energy, the efficiencies of producing fuels such as hydrogen must increase to the point that they rival or exceed those of conventional energy sources to make them a viable alternative. Now researchers at Monash University in Melbourne claim to have created a solar-powered device that produces hydrogen at a world-record 22 percent efficiency, which is a significant step towards making cheap, efficient hydrogen production a reality. Efficiency records for solar-powered hydrogen production have continued to rise over the years, and much more rapidly as the technology and techniques improve. Even as late as December last year  Gizmag reported  a solar-driven hydrogen record efficiency at the time of just 12.3 percent, so this new record shows a very healthy 10 percent improvement on that and beats out the previous record of 18 percent. Splitting water using electricity to produce hydrogen and oxygen has been a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Edible water balloons that could get rid of the need for plastic bottles

By
In case you didn’t know, bottled water is destroying the planet. We know that we need to be drinking plenty of water. It’s important. But the plastic bottles they’re sold in are terrible for the environment. One solution is using reusable bottles that you can fill from any nearby taps instead of buying a new bottle each time. Another solution is much more exciting. A group of engineers from Skipping Rocks Lab have developed a wonderful thing called The Ooho!. It’s a globe filled water that you can pop in your mouth whole. The outer shell is made of algae, so it’s edible and biodegradable. Meaning there’s no need for packaging or plastic – the globes of water are self-contained and ready to consume. Exciting, right? Plus they’re wobbly and they look cool, which is always a bonus. The team have now created a crowdfunding page to make their creation available to the public, with goals of selling The Ooho! at festival and marathons within the next 12 m...
Post a Comment
Read more