Researchers wed quantum processor with quantum memory

Bob369963

Ban Manager/Moderator
Joined
Apr 19, 2009
Messages
5,968
Researchers wed quantum processor with quantum memory, quaziness ensues

By Amar Toor posted Sep 2nd 2011 10:57PM



Quantum computing has a long way to go before becoming truly mainstream, but that certainly hasn't stopped us from indulging in dreams of a qubit-based existence. The latest bit of fantasy fodder comes from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where researchers have become the first to combine a quantum processor with memory mechanisms on a single chip. To do this, Matteo Mariantoni and his team of scientists connected two qubits with a quantum bus and linked each of them to a memory element, capable of storing their current values in the same way that RAM stores data on conventional computers. These qubit-memory links also contained arrays of resonators -- jagged, yet easily controlled circuits that can store values for shorter periods of time. The qubits, meanwhile, were constructed using superconducting circuits, allowing the UCSB team to nestle their qubits even closer together, in accordance with the von Neumann architecture that governs most commercial computers. Once everything was in place, the researchers used their system to run complex algorithms and operations that could be eventually used to decode data encryption. The next step, of course, is to scale up the design, though Mariantoni says that shouldn't be too much of a problem, thanks to his system's resonators -- which, according to him, "represent the future of quantum computing with integrated circuits."
<table class="spanks"><tbody><tr><td valign="bottom">
post_label_source.gif
Technology Review
</td></tr></tbody></table>
129

post_icon_comment_tail.gif

Leave A Comment
 
Back
Top