Image via BBC News
Quantum memory stores and saves information for long periods of time, and with new advancements, can catalyze a new path for technology. Quantum systems are a nuisance to tame, but for the team at Simon Fraser University in Canada, they had the “quibits” under control, making the data last longer.
Quibits are pieces of data that enhance the power of computers. In a standard computer, bits of data are stored in the hard drive between 1s and 0s. This is because the quibits are stored in a “superposition state” where they can be 1s and 0s, allowing the device to perform multiple functions simultaneously. The caveat of quibits is that they cannot hold onto stored data; within seconds, the system “forgets” the “memory” that has been imputed.
The international team of researchers set the new record for quantum systems at 39 minutes, ultimately making cutting-edge progress in the world of super-fast computers. Before Prof. Thewalt’s team completed its successful experiments, the previous record was set by Dr. Thaddeus Ladd from Stanford University at a solid state for 25 seconds at room temperature. This is the equivalent to three minutes under cryogenic temperatures.
The new record for quantum-bit storage has been set by using ionized donors in Silicon-28 at room temperature for the record-breaking total of 39 seconds. The scientists inserted information into the nuclei of the phosphorus atoms that were in placed in a piece of silicon. Here, the superposition states and quibits were created by magnetic pulses.
The electron and nuclear quibits work efficiently at cooler temperatures, but the researchers at Simon Frasier soon found that the nuclear spins would create an environment where higher temperatures would work. The team started at –269ºC, the lowest temperature, and then raised it to room temperature (about 25ºC). After observations, the scientists noticed that they could modify the quibits as the temperature fluctuated. The quantum memory system was enabled for three hours at cryogenic temperatures.
Stephanie Simmons of Oxford University's department of materials explained that “having such robust, as well as long-lived, qubits could prove very helpful for anyone trying to build a quantum computer.” She stated that even though “39 minutes may not seem very long… these lifetimes are many times longer than previous experiments.”
Simmons analyzed the technological obstacles that still need to be overcome with this technology before quantum computations can be performed on the larger scale. The device was constructed from an extremely filtered form of silicon that did not have magnetic isotopes that could interfere with the spin of nuclei. The same quantum state was used when the phosphorus ions were spun. For a wider range of calculations, the ions would need to be placed into different quibits in different states to monitor how they interact with each other.
Professor David Awschalom from the University of Chicago specializes in Spintronics and Quantum Information. He wonders, “will it be possible to precisely control the local electron-nuclear interaction to enable initialization, storage, and readout of the nuclear spin states?”
Story via Huffington Post, BBC News
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