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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."

8 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. How will they be programmed? by ReformedExCon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder what sort of programming language would be needed to manipulate such esoteric devices.

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    1. Re:How will they be programmed? by m50d · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Agreed. But if QCs ever become popular I'd bet on it being handled by bolt-on extensions to C (qint i = superposerange(0,1e6);) rather than a new way of programming.

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  2. Is it useful for the masses by Stan+Vassilev · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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 :)

    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 .. well odd).

    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).

    1. Re:Is it useful for the masses by MichaelSmith · · Score: 3, Interesting
      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

      multimedia and office applications are old technology and I agree that they don't require new tech. Back when 8 bit CPU's gave way to high tech 16 bit stuff I read an article about how 8 bits were better because most data (characters) came in 7 bit chunks.

      The world has moved on from those days and will continue to do so. How about a search engine which indexes literally every bit of data in the world and uses a massively parallel quantum search engine to continually run searches and give answers in milliseconds? How about simulating whole communities of scanned minds in a simple chunk of reliable hardware? I can see lots of applications but they won't be the killer apps for the future.

      Its funny. 20 years ago I agreed with that guy who said 16 bits would never catch on...

  3. Solar wind problems? by digitaldc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.

    http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/sun_win d.htm

    Is it possible for solar wind to affect the ions and electrons making these calculations?

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  4. Re:They're not really super fast. by Stan+Vassilev · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Indeed my point.

    BTW this is why I always thought calling them "computers" is misleading. When you say computer you expect the full thing, being able to handle any PC tasks you throw at it.

    I'd rather call it Quantum Processing Unit (QPU), and just like FPU before it it'll play together with the core CPU, not replace it, since you still need a "normal" CPU to display the interface, code editor, to compile code and to show the results of the quantum computations of the QPU.

    You can't just grab a QPU and adapt it to do all tasks a moden CPU can. They're just .. different thing.

  5. Shor's Algorithm by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Interesting
    One of the most important caveats of today's progress in quantum computing is Shor's Algorith.

    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?
    "Many public key cryptosystems, such as RSA, will become obsolete if Shor's algorithm is ever implemented in a practical quantum computer."
    ~ From the Wiki Talk on Shor's Algorithm
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  6. Don't we have enough qubit styles already? by C. · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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?

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    C.