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Quantum Information Research at NIST: Goals and Vision |
Ion Qubits One of the world’s best-known quantum computing efforts is the work with ion traps by the NIST Boulder, Colo., group led by David Wineland. This group uses ultraviolet lasers to manipulate the quantum states of beryllium ions in electromagnetic traps, and uses tiny electrodes to move the ions within a trap. This work originated in the 1980s, with research on frequency standards using trapped ions. The technology was promising but there was a lot of “noise” or interference in the signal. Wineland and his collaborators developed a concept for reducing the noise below the usual limit through what was then called spin squeezing, a process now more generally referred to as quantum entanglement. Also in the 1980s, prominent scientists elsewhere (Paul Benioff at Argonne National Laboratory, Richard Feynman at California Institute of Technology, and later David Deutsch at Oxford University) developed the idea of quantum logic, suggesting that quantum systems could perform some computations more efficiently than classical computers. In 1994, Peter Shor of Bell Labs made a significant advance when he developed a quantum algorithm that could factor large numbers efficiently. In 1995, Ignacio Cirac and Peter Zoller at the University of Innsbruck, stimulated by discussions presented by Artur Ekert of Oxford University, made the critical link between the ion-trap research at NIST and the idea of quantum logic. Within a few months the NIST group demonstrated the first quantum logic gate. This has been followed by numerous other accomplishments in quantum information science, many of them “firsts.” The group was the first to demonstrate the entanglement of four qubits, the teleportation of atomic qubit states (see Beam Me Up Einstein! NIST Demonstrates Teleporation and Engineering Secrets: How to Entangle Ions), and the use of quantum logic to improve measurements. The group has demonstrated all of the building blocks for a quantum computer based on ion traps. A significant advantage of ion qubits is the potential for linking together a large number of small, interconnected traps to make a computer of a practical size.
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Date
created: 11/16/05
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