New Ion Trap May Lead to Large Quantum Computers

User rating: 4.6 / 5 after 40 vote(s)

False-color images of 1 2 3 6 and 12 magnesium ions loaded into NISTacutes new planar ion trap. Red indicates areas of highest fluorescence or the centers of the ions. As more ions are loaded in the trap they squeeze closer together until the 12-ion ...
False-color images of 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 magnesium ions loaded into NIST's new planar ion trap. Red indicates areas of highest fluorescence, or the centers of the ions. As more ions are loaded in the trap, they squeeze closer together, until the 12-ion string falls into a zig-zag formation. Credit: Signe Seidelin and John Chiaverini/NIST

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have designed and built a novel electromagnetic trap for ions that could be easily mass produced to potentially make quantum computers large enough for practical use. The new trap, described in the June 30 issue of Physical Review Letters, may help scientists surmount what is currently the most significant barrier to building a working quantum computer—scaling up components and processes that have been successfully demonstrated individually.


Full story »
All News summaries from Physics news
All News summaries for July 06, 2006

A Critique of Shortsighted Anthropic Principles

11 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
Many people marvel that we live in a universe that seems to be precisely tailored to suit the development of intelligent life. The observation is the basis for some forms of "Anthropic Principles" that strive to explain why ...

Snakes Hear in Stereo

11 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
Physicists from the University Munich in Germany and the University of Topeka, Kansas have strong new evidence that snakes can hear through their jaws. Snakes don't have outer ears, leading to the myth that they can't hear ...

Rochester's Omega Laser Receives 50-Fold Power Increase to Become 'Petawatt' Laser

11 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
The University of Rochester will mark another important step in the effort toward attaining sustainable fusion, the ultimate source of clean energy, Friday, May 16.

First measurement of entangled states in nitrogen

May 15, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
When atoms form molecules, they share their outer electrons and this creates a negatively charged cloud. Here, electrons buzz around between the two positively charged nuclei, making it impossible to tell ...

Research puts new wrinkle in study of materials folding under pressure

May 15, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Scientists at the University of Chicago and the University of Santiago in Chile have explained, for the first time, the physics that governs how thin materials at scales millions of times different in thickness ...
Goto Archive PhysOrg Forum Goto Archive Video Goto Archive Editorials Goto Archive Free Magazines Goto Archive Newsletter

News Archive