Double eureka: Breakthroughs could lead to quantum ‘FM radio’ and the end of noise – The Next Web

A team of scientists from the University of Chicago discovered a method by which quantum states can be integrated and controlled in everyday electronics. The teams breakthrough research resulted in the experimental creation of what theyre dubbing a quantum FM radio to transmit data over long distances. This feels like an eureka moment for quantum computing.

The teams work involves silicon carbide, a naturally occurring semiconductor used to make all sorts of electronics including light emitting diodes (LEDs) and circuit boards. Its also used in rocketry due to its ability to withstand high temperatures and in the production of sand paper presumably because its coarse. What were excited about is its potential as a conduit for controlling quantum states.

Todays quantum computers under the IBM/Google/MIT paradigm are giant, unwieldy things that absolutely wont fit on your desktop. They require lasers and sub-zero temperatures to function. You need a team of physicists standing by in an expensive laboratory just to get started. But the University of Chicago teams work may change all that.

They used good old fashioned electricity, something were pretty good at controlling, to initiate and direct quantum states in silicon carbide. That means they didnt need fancy lasers, a super cold environment, or any of that mainframe-sized stuff to produce quantum results. This wasnt the result of a single experiment, but in fact involved two significant breakthroughs.

The first, the ability to control quantum states in silicon carbide, has the potential to solve quantum computings exotic materials problem. Silicon carbide is plentiful and relatively easy to work with compared to the standard-fair physicists use which includes levitated atoms, laser-ready metals, and perfectly-flawed diamonds. This is cool, and could fundamentally change the direction most quantum computing research goes in 2020 and beyond. But its the second breakthrough that might be the most exciting.

According to a press release from the University of Chicago, the teams method solves quantum computings noise problem. Per Chris Anderson, a co-author on the teams paper:

Impurities are common in all semiconductor devices, and at the quantum level, these impurities can scramble the quantum information by creating a noisy electrical environment. This is a near-universal problem for quantum technologies.

Co-author Alexandre Bourassa added:

In our experiments we need to use lasers, which unfortunately jostle the electrons around. Its like a game of musical chairs with electrons; when the light goes out everything stops, but in a different configuration. The problem is that this random configuration of electrons affects our quantum state. But we found that applying electric fields removes the electrons from the system and makes it much more stable.

The work is still early, but it has incredible implications for the field of quantum computing. With a little tweaking, it appears that this silicon carbide-based method of wrangling quantum states could lead us to the unhackable quantum communications network sooner than many experts believed. According to the team, it would work with the existing fiber optic network that already transmits 90 percent of the worlds data.

On the outside, a quantum FM radio, that essentially sends data along frequency-modulated waves, could augment or replace existing wireless communication methods and bring about an entirely new class of technology. Were thinking something like Star Treks TriCorders, a gadget that records environmental data, processes it instantly, and uses quantum AI to analyze and interpret the results.

For more information read the Chicago teams research papers here and here.

H/t: Phys.Org

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Double eureka: Breakthroughs could lead to quantum 'FM radio' and the end of noise - The Next Web