Stanford University researchersclaim to have developed a critical experimental devicefor future quantum physics-based technologies.
The technique involves acoustic instruments that harness motion, such as the oscillator that measures movement in phones.
Its part of a growing effort to harness the strange powers of quantum mechanics for computing.
Angled-view photograph of the fully packaged device. The top (mechanical) chip is secured facedown to the bottom (qubit) chip by an adhesive polymer.Agnetta Cleland
The qubits generate quantum mechanical effects that could power advanced computers.
The way reality works at the quantum mechanical level is very different from our macroscopic experience of the world.
“Were in essence looking to build mechanical quantum mechanical systems.”
A single quantum of motion, or phonon, is shared between two nanomechanical devices, causing them to become entangled.Agnetta Cleland
Making the tiny mechanical devices took a lot of work.
The team had to make hardware components at nanometer-scale resolutions and put them onto two silicon computer chips.
The bottom chip has an aluminum superconducting circuit that forms the devices qubit.
