A two-qubit gate (an essential basic arithmetic element for quantum computing) is then performed by exciting one electron of the atom into a giant electronic orbital, called a Rydberg orbital. In addition, these atoms being very well isolated from the surrounding environment and independent of each other, the coherence time (the time during which quantum superposition persists) of a qubit can reach several seconds. These are the basic building blocks “qubits” of a quantum computer (see Figure 2). These techniques, together with more recent breakthroughs in 2016, allows scientists to arrange arrays of cold atoms in arbitrary shapes with optical tweezers and to observe each one individually.īecause atoms are natural quantum systems, they can easily store quantum bits of information. Ashkin, invention of the optical tweezers). Philipps, Cooling and trapping atoms with laser light) and 2018 (A. Cold-atom based quantum computers:Ĭold-atom quantum computers are based on laser cooling and trapping techniques celebrated by the Nobel Prizes of 1997 (S.

Schematic of a quantum bit using Rubidium atoms. The research team is led by graduate student Yeelai Chew, Assistant Professor Sylvain de Léséleuc and Professor Kenji Ohmori at the Institute for Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences.įigure 2.

The results will be published today (August 8, 2022) in the online edition of the British scientific journal Nature Photonics. This ultrafast quantum computer, which uses ultrafast lasers to manipulate cold atoms trapped with optical tweezers, is expected to be a completely new quantum computer hardware that breaks through the limitations of the superconducting and trapped-ion types currently in development. By manipulating the atoms with a special laser light shone for 10 picoseconds (pico = one trillionth of a second), they succeeded in executing the world’s fastest two-qubit gate, see Figures 1 – 3, a fundamental operation essential for quantum computing, which operates in just 6.5 nanoseconds (nano = one billionth of a second). Cold- atom-based quantum computers are quickly attracting attention from industry, academia, and government around the world as revolutionary hardware that breaks through some limitations of superconducting and trapped-ion quantum computers, which are currently the most advanced types of quantum computers.Ī research group is using atoms cooled to almost absolute zero and trapped in optical tweezers separated by a micron or so (see Figure 1).For the past two decades, all quantum computer hardware has been pursuing faster gates to escape the effects of external noise that can degrade computational accuracy.A research team succeeded in executing the world’s fastest two-qubit gate (a fundamental arithmetic element essential for quantum computing) using a completely new method of manipulating, with an ultrafast laser, micrometer-spaced atoms cooled to absolute zero temperature.Two atoms captured in optical tweezers (red light) with a separation of a micrometer are manipulated by a ultrafast laser pulse (blue light) shone for only 10 picoseconds.

Conceptual diagram of the world’s fastest two-qubit gate.

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