The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - November 13, 2024
Scientists from the SPINNING consortium are developing a diamond-based quantum computer with the potential to carry out calculations millions of times faster than today's most advanced supercomputers.
Optical laboratory setup for the demonstration of spin-photon-based quantum computing at Fraunhofer IAF.
Schematic of a spin-photon-based quantum processor consisting of six optically coupled quantum registers.
Considering that quantum computers have the potential to solve complex problems in a matter of seconds that would take today's most advanced supercomputers decades to answer, scientists around the world are racing to overcome the challenges associated with developing a quantum computer that is efficient, reliable, and compatible with existing technology.
The potential advantages of realizing quantum computing's full potential are so great that the German government has established a program known as the Federal Government Quantum Technologies and is funding SPINNING, a consortium of six universities, two non-profit research institutions, five industrial companies, and 14 associated partners to advance diamond-based quantum computing.
"In the SPINNING project, we want to make an important contribution to the German quantum technology ecosystem," said Professor Rüdiger Quay, coordinator of the SPINNING coalition. "To this end, we are using the material properties of diamond to develop a quantum computing technology that can be just as powerful as the other technologies but has none of their specific weaknesses."
The Achilles Heel of quantum computing is the fragility of qubits, the quantum realm equivalent of the bits that store and transfer data in classical computers.
The classical computers, smartphones, and the other computing devices we use today convey information with bits, each bit representing a zero (off) or one (on). Qubits, on the other hand, are both zero and one and neither of these states at the same time. This quantum phenomenon, known as superposition, is the foundation of the potential mind-blowing speed of quantum computers and networks.
The downside to qubits is they do not do well in the larger-than-atom-sized world in which we live.
As qubits make their way through our world, their quantum state can degrade or be lost – the longer the distance, the greater the degradation.
Scientists use the children's game of telephone to demonstrate what they are dealing with when it comes to qubit transmission. As each child whispers a phrase in the next one's ear, the information is often altered slightly. By the time this phrase has been passed along 20 times, the child at the end of the line recites a message that is often quite different than what was whispered at the start of the line.
Optical laboratory setup for the demonstration of spin-photon-based quantum computing at Fraunhofer IAF.
While this gradual change in data creates a good laugh for schoolchildren, the start-to-end-point transmission errors in quantum computers leave only a very small percentage of useful data.
Even with this error rate, today's quantum computers can hold their own against the world's most powerful supercomputers. If the error rate could be eliminated, however, it is theorized that a quantum computer would be able to carry out as many calculations in four minutes as it would take a traditional supercomputer 10,000 years.
SPINNING believes the diamond spin-photon-based quantum computer it is developing could lower the error rate, require less energy for cooling, and be more durable than other quantum computing technologies.
"Its hybrid design also enhances scalability and connectivity, allowing for more flexible integration with traditional computing systems," the group penned in a statement on their diamond-based model.
Under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute, the SPINNING Project is protecting qubits by trapping them in diamond defects known as color centers due to their ability to absorb and emit light in the visible spectrum.
"We create qubits using color centers in the diamond lattice by trapping an electron in one of four artificially created lattice defects (vacancy centers) doped with nitrogen (NV), silicon and nitrogen (SiNV), germanium (GeV) or tin (SnV). The electron spin couples through magnetic interaction with five nuclear spins of neighboring carbon isotopes. The central electron spin can then be used as an addressable qubit," explains Quay.
Through this complex quantum process, the SPINNING scientists were able, for the first time, to demonstrate the entanglement of two registers of six qubits over a distance of 20 meters, which is much further than other quantum computers with entanglement over just a few millimeters.
Schematic of a spin-photon-based quantum processor consisting of six optically coupled quantum registers.
"The SPINNING quantum computer will consist of at least two and later up to four of these registers, which in turn will be optically coupled over long distances of 20 meters, for example, so that a comprehensive exchange of information can take place," said Quay.
With long-distance qubit entanglement showcasing the potential for practical, scalable quantum computing applications, the consortium is focused on improving reproducibility and software for automatic control of the spin-photon-based quantum computer's routing.
The consortium also succeeded in developing the electronics required to operate the quantum computer and demonstrating the first applications of the quantum computer for artificial intelligence.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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