Yet more qubit tech: New quantum dot options, diamond vacancies

AI 中文解读

量子计算又有新花样了！这次两条技术路线同时突破：量子点技术被IBM直接收购，钻石空位技术也意外实现了百级规模的电子控制。通俗讲，量子计算机的核心部件叫“量子比特”，相当于传统计算机的0和1。目前业界在争论哪种技术将来能做出上百万个稳定量子比特。一条路是用半导体工艺制造“量子点”来囚禁单个电子，这就像用造手机芯片的方法造量子比特，IBM看中这种潜力直接买下了相关公司。另一条路更神奇，利用钻石里的原子空位（缺陷）来抓住电子，以前大家觉得这种技术很难做大，但现在一家公司已经成功控制了100个这样的电子，证明它也能规模化。虽然这些技术离普通人的生活还很远，但它们意味着量子计算机离真正实用又近了一步。未来如果能造出足够强的量子计算机，我们就能在几分钟内破解传统密码、模拟新药分子结构，甚至优化交通网络。这次突破好比给量子计算机装上了更可靠的“螺丝刀”，让工程师们更有底气去挑战那个终极目标。

If you follow quantum computing news for long enough, it can start to seem like any quantum system that can alternate between two well-separated energy states can be used as a qubit. Atoms, ions, photons, electrons, and manufactured devices all have their backers. One of the key things that attracts backers is the tech's ability to scale. We'll need a lot of high-quality qubits to start doing any complex computations, and the ability of any technology to get us there is the subject of debate. So even as some technologies can now support thousands of qubits, some competitors are still working on a small handful of qubits—the companies behind them are convinced that they have the potential to scale more effectively. One of those technologies involves quantum dots that hold a single electron. Their advantage is that we can manufacture them using the same tech we use to build traditional processors, an approach that has proven to be scalable. This week saw two new papers describing different ways of using quantum dots, one of which was appealing enough that IBM bought the company that developed it. Separately, another company has released a processor showing 100 individual electrons being held in diamond defects, technology that wasn't obvious could scale.Read full article Comments