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Innovative Ion Trap on a Semiconductor
Denix writes "MIT's TechnologyReview has an interesting article on a silicon-based "ion trap" in order to host a "qubit." The Ion Trap technology 'uses electric and magnetic fields to isolate a charged particle from its environment -- a prerequisite for exploiting the temperamental quantum properties of electrons."
Now we have to hope that quantum computing comes out in time for Windows Vista.
I wonder what sort of programming language would be needed to manipulate such esoteric devices.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
Ion traps aren't particularly clever in themselves, but making them small- and mass-producing them- is important for quantum computing, which is where the research in the article is pointing.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Read up on Ion traps at: http://www.ionsource.com/links/iontrap.htm
Also, Wikipedia has quite a bit of useful information, especially regarding Paul traps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_trap
SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
This is cool stuff But when someone figures out how to trap a ghost with this technology......now we're talking. And, will someone please teach me how to write an equation for ghost so we can finally fix them.
You know I've read lots of interesting application for quantum PC-s, but they are all esoteric, like hacking encryption keys or in scientific supercomputers for .. well simulating quantum level events :)
.. well odd).
The progress is certainly interesting, but I everything shows this won't be the future of the mass computing, where running multimedia and office application are more practical usage of technology, and not especially suited for quantum computers (cuz most of you know quantum computers aren't just super fast computers.. they're just
For personal computing we gotta be looking into nano-technology, which also would be compatible with today's PC architecture (i.e. nano RAM in a laptop or nano HDD with SCSI interface for example).
Though personally I preferred the original starring Hayley Mills
For the obligatory 'but will it run Linux?' question, here's an answer I heard:
Being a Quantum computer, it can both run Linux, and NOT run Linux at the same time.
Serving time in Aristotelean prison for violating laws of physics
So, the reporter doesn't know his periodic table? I bet he's red-hot at quantum physics, though. Really brilliant and highly trained minds sometimes skip over the basic stuff, yerknow.
Bah.
nt
A qubit! What's a qubit?
Am I the only one for whom MS's "Freedom to Innovate" campaign has ruined the word "innovation"? Now, when I hear "innovation", I mentally translate it into "derivative". So I guess this "innovative" ion trap is just a knockoff of another ion trap Xerox made in the 1970s and Apple aped in the 1980s, which mysteriously costs much more than most other ion traps, and breaks a lot...
With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
Quantum computers can factor a number in polynomial time. That's not because they're really fast (they're not doing it in exponential time very fast, but in polynomial), it's because they have quantum properties. To factor a number, they convert the problem into a problem of finding the periodicity of a function, and then exploit the computer's ability to be in all states at the same time, and thus find the period very fast.
They have the potential to do stuff that we do slowly now much faster, but I don't think they will be that unbelievably faster (3,000,000x).
Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
The chip is placed in a vacuum, which then gets injected with a vapor of cadmium ions. When the appropriate voltages are applied to the electrodes, a cadmium ion with a free electron becomes trapped, floating between the cantilevers above the etched hole. In order to actually use the atom's free electron for computation, Monroe explains, the ion must be probed by a laser beam that reads the electron's spin state.
n d.htm
http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/sun_wi
Is it possible for solar wind to affect the ions and electrons making these calculations?
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
I was hoping for an ion drive for my spaceship before an ion bit in it's control system but we make due with what we have. Having not read any of the linked papers, is there a binifit to this ion bit over a photon based bit?
Why hasn't quantum computing gone further? Well, first you need to know that it requires your qubit to be tied to nearby qubits. When done with electrons, this is difficult because decoherence sets in very quickly.
In the end, they can "compute" with this string of qubits by bathing it in a certain frequency wavelength. What comes back are the multiple waves with the frequencies of all the prime factorizations of the initial frequency. The initial frequency cannot be greater than 2^(# of qubits).
The information I am relaying to you is from George Johnson's book, A Shortcut Through Time. Which is quite good.
I would also like to point out that the United States Government Lab in Los Alamos has done considerable research regarding this.
As a citizen of the U.S., you are funding this project so you have paid for and are entitled to read about their discoveries and I encourage you to do so if you have the time.
The reason for all this research? ~ From the Wiki Talk on Shor's Algorithm
My work here is dung.
Riiight.
... zwo-pah ... zwo-pah
What's a qubit?
Zwo-pah
(apologies to Bill Cosby)
Instead of addressing mass-production issues, maybe it would be time to put up a working quantum computer and see if it turns out useful. I doubt the goal of "10'000 qubits before it is useful" is impossible with today's technology.
Anyone remembers those computers that filled a whole room, and cost the price of a small country?
C.
That's like saying:
...but where's the furnace door that helps maintain cow-pattie-burning backwards compatibility!?
...oh wait
Your space shuttle idea is great, but we should still put a swing harness on the bottom to maintain backwards compatibility for those pilots trained on the Wright Flyer!
Or how bout this one:
This here Ferrari sure is nifty, but I think we should include a yolk so that we maintain draft-horse backwards compatibility!
Or maybe this one:
This here fusion reactor is sweet!
Or even:
Hey this here computer is awesome... USB... P4... DVD+-rwxyzblahblahwhatevva... flat panel screen... boot from neural implant... 5TB raid... ehhhh, but where's the 3 1/4 floppy? Ya know, to maintain backwards compatibility?
There are other important applications for cheap ion traps as well, not least among them is in the field of biology / proteomics and perhaps chemistry. Ion traps are used in mass spectrometry and may be able to be adapted for desktop mass spectrometers.