Scientists synthesize ‘bright’ quantum bits

Graduate student Berk Kovos, postdoctoral scholar Sam Bayliss, and graduate student Peter Mintun (left to right) work on qubit technology in the Awschalom lab in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. Credit: Pratiti Deb, University of Chicago
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A team of physicists and chemists at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University has developed a new method to create tailor-made qubits by chemically synthesizing molecules that encode quantum information into their magnetic spin states.

The team wanted to find a new approach to develop molecules whose spin states can be used as qubits, and can be readily interfaced with the outside world. To do so, they used organometallic chromium molecules to create a spin state that they could control with light and microwaves.

By exciting the molecules with precisely controlled laser pulses and measuring the light emitted, they could “read” the molecules’ spin state after being placed in a superposition—a key requirement for using them in the quantum computing world.

This new bottom-up approach could ultimately lead to quantum systems that have extraordinary flexibility and control, helping pave the way for next-generation quantum technology. (Phys.org)

The work has been published in the journal Science.

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