Physicists detect and control quantum states in diamond with light
Physicists at UC Santa Barbara have succeeded in combining laser light with trapped electrons to detect and control the electrons' fragile quantum state without erasing it. This is an important step toward using quantum physics to expand computing power and to communicate over long distances without the possibility of eavesdropping. The work appears online today at Science Express.
The research, led by David Awschalom, professor of physics, electrical and computer engineering, and director of UCSB's Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, and graduate student Bob Buckley, exploits an unusual property of the microscopic quantum world: the ability to combine things that are very different.
Using electrons trapped in a single atom-sized defect within a thin crystal of diamond, combined with laser light of precisely the right color, the scientists showed that it was possible to briefly form a mixture of light and matter. After forming this light-matter mixture, they were able to use measurements of the light to determine the state of the electrons.
Likewise, by separately examining the electrons, they showed that the electron configuration was not destroyed by the light. Instead, it was modified -- a dramatic demonstration of control over quantum states using light. "Manipulating the quantum state of a single electron in a semiconductor without destroying the information represents an extremely exciting scientific development with potential technological impact," said Awschalom.
Preserving quantum states is a major obstacle in the nascent field of quantum computing. One benefit of quantum information is that it can never be copied, unlike information transferred between today's computers, providing a measure of security that is safeguarded by fundamental laws of nature. The ability to measure a quantum state without destroying it is an important step in the development of technologies that harness the advantages of the quantum world.
Buckley, putting this research in perspective, said: "Diamond may someday become for a quantum computer what silicon is for digital computers today -- the building blocks of logic, memory, and communication. Our experiment provides a new tool to make that happen. "
More information: Research paper: http://www.science … ence.1196436
Provided by University of California -- Santa Barbara
-
From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor,
28 comments
-
Every black hole contains a new universe: A physicist presents a solution to present-day cosmic mysteries,
214 comments
-
New silicon memory chip developed,
16 comments
-
Computing experts unveil superefficient 'inexact' chip,
45 comments
-
SpaceX private rocket blasts off for space station (Update),
41 comments
-
understanding the strain energy function invariant term
2 hours ago
-
a numerical problem...kindly provide d solution
11 hours ago
-
energy and momentum conservation
11 hours ago
-
Uniform circular motion (centripetal acceleration & force)
13 hours ago
-
Rotational Mechanics: Sphere collision problem
19 hours ago
-
Combustion Model
19 hours ago
- More from Physics Forums - Classical Physics
More news stories
Is a classical electrodynamics law incompatible with special relativity?
(Phys.org) -- The laws of classical electromagnetism that were developed in the 19th century are the same laws that scientists use today. They include Maxwell’s four equations along with the Lorentz la ...
13 hours ago |
5 / 5 (9) |
18
|
Slip-and-slide power generators
Researchers from Vestfold University College in Norway have created a simple, efficient energy harvesting device that uses the motion of a single droplet to generate electrical power.
5 hours ago |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
Excitons: Exotic particles, chilled and trapped, form giant matter wave
Physicists have trapped and cooled exotic particles called excitons so effectively that they condensed and cohered to form a giant matter wave.
11 hours ago |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
1
|
Thousands of invisibility cloaks trap a rainbow
Many people anticipating the creation of an invisibility cloak might be surprised to learn that a group of American researchers has created 25 000 individual cloaks.
4 hours ago |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
|
Sound increases the efficiency of boiling
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology achieved a 17-percent increase in boiling efficiency by using an acoustic field to enhance heat transfer. The acoustic field does this by efficiently removing vapor bubbles ...
5 hours ago |
not rated yet |
1
HyperSolar shows dirty water no barrier to power world
(Phys.org) -- The Santa Barbara, California, company, HyperSolar, is set to transparently share the ups and downs of its research experiences toward the company’s ultimate vision, successfully producing ...
Organic carbon from Mars, but not biological
Molecules containing large chains of carbon and hydrogen--the building blocks of all life on Earth--have been the targets of missions to Mars from Viking to the present day. While these molecules have previously ...
In nanorod crystal growth, nanoparticles seen as artificial atoms
In the growth of crystals, do nanoparticles act as "artificial atoms" forming molecular-type building blocks that can assemble into complex structures? This is the contention of a major but controversial theory ...
First direct observation of oriented attachment in nanocrystal growth
Berkeley Lab researchers have reported the first direct observation of nanoparticles undergoing oriented attachment, the critical step in biomineralization and the growth of nanocrystals. A better understanding ...
Asteroid nudged by sunlight: Most precise measurement of Yarkovsky effect
Scientists on NASA's asteroid sample return mission, Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx), have measured the orbit of their destination asteroid, ...
New mapping of Mars shows western Medusae Fossae formation older than once thought
(Phys.org) -- Recent geologic mapping of the Medusae Fossae Formation on Mars—an intensely eroded deposit near the northern edge of the cratered highlands—has revealed a wider distribution of its ...
Oct 18, 2010
Rank: not rated yet
Oct 19, 2010
Rank: not rated yet
It's a bit complicated to explain my point of view on this subject, but in short, the economic model is becoming obsolete.
Regardless of what people have previously claimed, automation is doing away with jobs. Factories today have a handfull to a few dozen workers, whereas even in the recent past to have the same level of production required hundreds of workers. Internet and automated ordering services remove the need for secretaries and other customer service representatives. The list of jobs lost to computers keeps growing.
People can't pay their mortgages unless they have a job. When they lose their houses, and there is zero population growth, then no new houses are needed. This causes more people to lose their jobs because fewer trade and construction workers are needed, and fewer materials are needed so less minining or harvesting of lumber, etc.
Oct 19, 2010
Rank: not rated yet
Fewer and fewer people are required to produce the goods and services needed by everyone else. Normally, this wouldn't theoretically be a problem. However, the problem exists because those people who can't get a job because they aren't needed then can't afford to buy anything.
So even though there are a surplus of goods and services, 1/7th of Americans now live in poverty because they can't get a decent job, because their skills are no longer needed, or else because the job they have is considered "unskilled" and therefore doesn't even pay the cost of living, even though nobody else wants to do the job anyway.
"Haves" only pay "Have Nots" as little as they can possibly get away with, and charge them as much as they can possibly get away with...
Oct 19, 2010
Rank: not rated yet
And so saying something like 'trust me- its a lot more complicated than that' will have absolutely no effect on your perception that you know what is going on (you dont) or on your continued compulsion to leave posts which demonstrate the fact that you obviously do not.
Oct 22, 2010
Rank: not rated yet