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The process begins with tiny, nanoscale diamonds that contain a specific type of impurity: a single nitrogen atom where a carbon atom should be, with an empty space right next to it, resulting from a second missing carbon atom. This “nitrogen vacancy” impurity gives each diamond special optical and electromagnetic properties.

By attaching other materials to the diamond grains, such as metal particles or semiconducting materials known as “quantum dots,” the researchers can create a variety of customizable hybrid nanoparticles, including nanoscale semiconductors and magnets with precisely tailored properties.

“If you pair one of these diamonds with silver or gold nanoparticles, the metal can enhance the nanodiamond’s optical properties. If you couple the nanodiamond to a semiconducting quantum dot, the hybrid particle can transfer energy more efficiently,” said Min Ouyang, an associate professor of physics at UMD and senior author on the study.

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UChicago hasthis been able for the first time conduct an experiment shows the behavior of quantum materials in curved space. In their own words, “We are beginning to make our photons interact with each other. This opens up many possibilities, such as making crystalline or exotic quantum liquid states of light. We can then see how they respond to spatial curvature.”

Interplay of light, matter is of potential technological interest

Continue reading “UChicago Physicists First to See Behavior of Quantum Materials in Curved Space” »

Google is to trying to combine the Adiabatic Quantum computing AQC method with the digital approach’s error-correction capabilities.

The Google team uses a row of nine solid-state qubits, fashioned from cross-shaped films of aluminium about 400 micrometres from tip to tip. These are deposited onto a sapphire surface. The researchers cool the aluminium to 0.02 degrees kelvin, turning the metal into a superconductor with no electrical resistance. Information can then be encoded into the qubits in their superconducting state.

The interactions between neighboring qubits are controlled by ‘logic gates’ that steer the qubits digitally into a state that encodes the solution to a problem. As a demonstration, the researchers instructed their array to simulate a row of magnetic atoms with coupled spin states — a problem thoroughly explored in condensed-matter physics. They could then look at the qubits to determine the lowest-energy collective state of the spins that the atoms represented.

Continue reading “Google team predicts quantum computing supremacy over classical computing around 2018 with a 40 qubit universal quantum computer” »

Featuring backside-illuminated sensor technology providing 95% quantum efficiency, the Prime 95B from 2016 Innovators Awards silver-level honoree Photometrics is reportedly three times more sensitive than the current generation of sCMOS cameras. The camera features a GSENSE400BSI-TVISB scientific CMOS (sCMOS) sensor from Gpixel Inc., which is a 1.44 MPixel sensor with a 11 µm square pixel size that can achieve a frame rate of 41 fps in 16-bit and 82 fps in 12-bit. The Prime 95B, according to Photometrics, is optimized for low-light microscopy and life sciences imaging applications because of its ability to collect nearly all available light, and maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the experiment while minimizing cellular photo damage. Additionally, the camera features forced air or liquid cooling options, as well as a PCIe and USB 3.0 interfaces.

The ability to entangle 10 photons should allow physicists to prove, once and for all, that quantum computers really can do things classical computers cannot.

The QUTIS research group (www.qutisgroup.com) of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and Google’s quantum computation team have collaborated on a pioneering experiment that universally digitizes analogue quantum computation on a superconducting chip. This breakthrough was made at Google’s labs in Santa Barbara (California) and has been published in the prestigious journal Nature.

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Scientists can now identify the exact location of a single atom in a silicon crystal, a discovery that is key for greater accuracy in tomorrow’s silicon based quantum computers.

It’s now possible to track and see individual phosphorus atoms in a silicon crystal allowing confirmation of quantum computing capability, but which also has use in nano detection devices.

Continue reading “World-first pinpointing of atoms at work for quantum computers” »

Combining the best of analog and digital approaches could yield a full-scale multipurpose quantum computer.

Very promising. I imagine 3D Printers being able to create synthesize diamonds will be a very profitable business to get in to because of the stabilizing benefits that the nanodiamonds bring to Quantum Computing and nanotechnology in general.

Nanomaterials have the potential to improve many next-generation technologies. They promise to speed up computer chips, increase the resolution of medical imaging devices and make electronics more energy efficient. But imbuing nanomaterials with the right properties can be time consuming and costly. A new, quick and inexpensive method for constructing diamond-based hybrid nanomaterials could soon launch the field forward.

University of Maryland researchers developed a method to build diamond-based hybrid nanoparticles in large quantities from the ground up, thereby circumventing many of the problems with current methods. The technique is described in the June 8, 2016 issue of the journal Nature Communications (“Nanostructures for Coupling Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers to Metal Nanoparticles and Semiconductor Quantum Dots”).

Continue reading “Pairing nanodiamonds with other nanomaterials could enable huge advances in nanotechnology” »