Discover how neutral atoms are paving the way for a new era of quantum computing, with researchers making significant strides in developing scalable, controllable, and stable platforms for building qubits and implementing quantum operations.
Getting to the Quantum Frontier
Quantum computing: Key to cracking supercomputing problems, or nothing much? — It is generally assumed that many complex problems can be solvable only by a large quantum computer (quantum error-corrected), but first one must build multiple qubit systems that would persist for more than usual length of time.
Neutral atoms are key players in this. They contain the same number of protons and electrons, ensuring that they are not electrically charged—the ideal neutral particle for use in quantum computing systems. Neutral atoms are relatively more immune to environmental noise and control imperfections than other qubit realizations, enabling better-quality quantum information processing.
Quantum Systems Accelerator: Advancing Technologies
The Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA), led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and including over 250 researchers from a dozen DOE national laboratories and other institutions. This is a joint effort to help work out new methods on the way to building a fault-tolerant and scalable quantum processor and developing various implementations of operations in quantum hardware.
Reconfigurable arrays of neutral atoms: No large breakthrough enabled by QSA has occurred yet. Trapping these atoms in focused laser beams, researchers have built a template less sensitive to noise and hence more useful for quantum operations. Detailed in a 2021 paper published in Nature, this innovation provides a way to flexibly design and optimize qubits to scale up quantum computers.
Conclusion
This progress of neutral atom-based quantum computing, through collaborative efforts like the Quantum Systems Accelerator, will enable future powerful and dependable quantum computers. These advancements help to solve fundamental challenges in qubit control, error correction, and scaling; all of which are important for realizing a future where quantum computing is applied towards solving the most complicated problems while transforming various industries from materials science to cryptography.
