Originally published February 19 2006
Quantum microchip could make computers much faster
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Daniel Stick, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, discusses a project he participated in that resulted in the development of the first quantum microchip, which will aid the development of a new generation of super-fast computers.
University of Michigan scientists have created the first quantum microchip, which could be a giant stride in the race to produce a new generation of brawny, super-fast computers.
Working with individual ions is key to building powerful computing machines that will exploit quantum physics -- instead of transistors -- and trump the power of today's most powerful supercomputers.
So, on a semiconductor chip roughly the size of a postage stamp, the Michigan scientists designed and built a device known as an ion trap, which allowed them to isolate individual charged atoms and manipulate their quantum states.
An ion expresses a positive or negative charge, depending on whether its parent atom has a missing or an extra electron.
"The cadmium atom that has lost an electron becomes a positively charged ion, which can then be controlled with an electrical field," said Daniel Stick, a doctoral student in the University of Michigan's physics department who participated in the work.
For example, an up-spin can represent a one, or a down-spin can represent a zero -- or the qubit can occupy both states simultaneously.
This enigmatic feature of quantum mechanics is what gives the qubit a powerful advantage over the binary digit of classical computing.
Known as quantum superposition, the ability of the qubit to occupy two quantum states at once means that it can execute computations at an exponentially faster rate.
Each time a qubit is added to a quantum system, its computing power doubles.
Cantilevered electrodes surround the space, which is open to allow laser beam access and observation of the trapped ion.
Once an ion is trapped, it floats in electric fields supplied by the chip's electrodes, according to Christopher Monroe, a physics professor at the University of Michigan who led the project.
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