The honeycomb computer

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The honeycomb computer

PR14(07)

Tue, 22 May 2007

Quantum computers will harness the laws of quantum mechanics to = conduct=20 calculations many times faster than conventional computers. The problem = is that=20 no one is sure how to make one. Tom Hodgson of the University of York = will=20 describe a design for a quantum computer that could be relatively robust = and=20 easy to manufacture on Thursday 12 April at the Condensed Matter and = Materials=20 Physics conference, organised by the Institute of Physics.

The design consists of lots of tiny blobs of semi conducting material = lodged=20 inside a kind of ceramic sponge and is the result of the = international=20 collaboration between the Dept of Physics of the University of York = (T.E.=20 Hodgson and Dr. I.D'Amico) and the Dept. of Physics (Prof. M.F. Bertino) = and=20 Chemistry ( Prof. N. Leventis) of the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Quantum computers will achieve their tremendous power by exploiting = the=20 strange fact that in the quantum world objects can exist in several = different=20 states at the same time. Objects subject to these rules are generally = very small=20 indeed =E2=80=93 individual atoms, or in this case, small pieces of = material called=20 quantum dots, just a few nanometres (millionths of a millimetre) wide, = which can=20 behave rather like =E2=80=98artificial atoms=E2=80=99.

Information can be encoded in the states of objects like this, just = as it is=20 imprinted into the magnetic states of the material inside = today=E2=80=99s computer hard=20 drives. But because the quantum objects =E2=80=93 the quantum = =E2=80=98bits=E2=80=99 or qubits of such a=20 computer =E2=80=93 can exist in a =E2=80=98superposition=E2=80=99 of = many different states at once, this=20 means that the encoded information can be processed in many different = ways at=20 the same time. In effect, the quantum computer operates somewhat like = many=20 conventional computers running in parallel.

Some researchers are investigating designs for quantum computers in = which the=20 qubits are individual atoms trapped by electrical or magnetic fields. = These=20 require rather sophisticated microelectronic structures to act as the = traps, and=20 the atoms aren=E2=80=99t easy to manipulate in the ways that are needed = to conducting a=20 computation. Others think quantum computers might encode the information = in the=20 quantum states of =E2=80=98light particles=E2=80=99 (photons). But so = far, no one has made a=20 quantum computer with more than a handful of qubits =E2=80=93 which = doesn=E2=80=99t offer much=20 computing power at all, compared with the billions of bits in = conventional=20 desktop computers.

The design proposed is rather more down-to-earth. Quantum dots made = from=20 semiconductors are now routinely made for many different applications in = science=20 and technology, ranging from information processing to biomedicine. But = making=20 them all the same size (so that they all have the same behaviour), and = arranging=20 them into the kind of orderly arrays that would be needed if they are to = serve=20 as the qubit components of a quantum computer, isn=E2=80=99t easy. = Hodgson and=20 colleagues say that quantum dots could be made inside a kind of = microscopic=20 honeycomb of titania, the material used as the pigment of white paint. = Such=20 synthetic porous materials, with regular arrays of identical pores just = a few=20 nanometres wide, have been known since the early 1990s.

To make a qubit array, the researchers propose using electrochemistry = to=20 create stacks of semiconductor =E2=80=98plugs=E2=80=99 in the pores. = Information can be read in=20 and out of the qubits by shining laser pulses on them. The area lit by = the laser=20 would be much larger than the size of each pore =E2=80=93 and so, = because each stack of=20 qubits is identical, many copies of the same information would be = created. This=20 is actually an important advantage, because quantum computation is known = to be=20 inevitably error-prone =E2=80=93 it makes many mistakes. But with many = copies, these=20 errors can be corrected by averaging them out. The researchers point out = that=20 the experimental techniques required to create structures of this type = already=20 exist.

Notes to editors:

The poster, Quantum computation using quantum dots in = mesoporous=20 materials, will be on display from Thursday 12 April 2007 at 09:00 = hours.
For more information and interviews or to attend the conference, = please=20 contact Helen MacBain, press officer, Institute of Physics, Tel: = +44(0)7946=20 321 473, +44(0)20 7470 4815 or E-mail: helen.macbain@iop.org.
= ;
The Insititute of Physics conference, Condensed matter and = material=20 physics, will be held on 12 - 13 April 2007 at the University of=20 Leicester. The full programme for the conference can be found here.
The Institute of Physics is a scientific membership organisation = devoted=20 to increasing the understanding and application of physics. It has an=20 extensive worldwide membership (currently over 35,000) and is a = leading=20 communicator of physics with all audiences from specialists through = government=20 to the general public. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a = world=20 leader in scientific publishing and the electronic dissemination of=20 physics.

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Artwork | Image = by Fred=20 Swist