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Quantum computers are experimental devices that promise exponential speedups on some computational problems. Where a bit in a classical computer can represent either a 0 or a 1, a quantum bit, or qubit, can represent 0 and 1 simultaneously, letting quantum computers explore multiple problem solutions in parallel. But such “superpositions” of quantum states are, in practice, difficult to maintain.

In a paper appearing this week in Nature Communications, MIT researchers and colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the synthetic-diamond company Element Six describe a new design that in experiments extended the superposition time of a promising type of qubit a hundredfold.

In the long term, the work could lead toward practical quantum computers. But in the shorter term, it could enable the indefinite extension of quantum-secured communication links, a commercial application of quantum information technology that currently has a range of less than 100 miles.

The researchers’ qubit design employs nitrogen atoms embedded in synthetic diamond. When nitrogen atoms happen to be situated next to gaps in the diamond’s crystal lattice, they produce “nitrogen vacancies,” which enable researchers to optically control the magnetic orientation, or “spin,” of individual electrons and atomic nuclei. Spin can be up, down, or a superposition of the two.

To date, the most successful demonstrations of quantum computing have involved atoms trapped in magnetic fields. But “holding an atom in vacuum is difficult, so there’s been a big effort to try to trap them in solids,” says Dirk Englund, the Jamieson Career Development Assistant Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and corresponding author on the new paper.

“In particular, you want a transparent solid, so you can send light in and out. Crystals are better than many other solids, like glass, in that their atoms are nice and regular and their electronic structure is well defined. And amongst all the crystals, diamond is a particularly good host for capturing an atom, because it turns out that the nuclei of diamond are mostly free of magnetic dipoles, which can cause noise on the electron spin.”

Source: newsoffice.mit.edu

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