'Hybrid' Logic Gate For Quantum Computers Demonstrated (ox.ac.uk)

hypnosec writes: Researchers at Oxford University have demonstrated a 'hybrid' logic gate using two isotopes of calcium, the abundant isotope calcium-40 and the rare isotope calcium-43. One of the leading technologies for building a quantum computer is trapped atomic ions, and researchers at Oxford's Networked Quantum Information Technologies (NQIT – pronounced 'N-kit') Hub are working to develop the constituent elements of a quantum computer based on these ions. As explained by researchers in the study published in the journal Nature, each of the trapped ions is used to represent one 'quantum bit' of information. The quantum states of the ions are controlled with laser pulses of precise frequency and duration. Two different species of ion are needed in the computer: one to store information, a 'memory qubit', and one to link different parts of the computer together via photons, an 'interface qubit'."