(Left) Quantum programming rig, the chip is central, we assume. (Right) The chip next to a USA quarter coin for comparison
A team of scientist working at the University of Bristol's Centre for Quantum Photonics have created a silicon chip capable of manipulating individual light particles for computational processing. The photons and the processor in which they are used take advantage of the quantum mechanical effects such as entanglement and superposition to perform calculations. Using such a chip made from silicon, would make it compatible with modern electronics and ready to be mass produced through currently used manufacturing techniques.
The announcement was made at the 2012 British Science Festival and has also been published in the New Journal of Physics. Dr Mark Thompson, the physicists leading the team, has stated, “Using silicon to manipulate light, we have made circuits over 1000 times smaller than current glass-based technologies.” Other than being compatible with modern microelectronics, the silicon also saves the quantum processors the trouble from having to be created using a complicated glass architecture. Additionally, the smaller size will allow the chip to be integrated into systems and devices that were not possible before. Even with their small size, quantum computing will have excessive computational power and will be able to perform better than today's supercomputers.
Scientists are stating we may see quantum processors integrated into modern technologies within 3 to 5 years. Their current system is using 20 photons or 10 quantum bits to perform calculations faster than ordinary computers. Dr Thompson is expecting within ten years we will have quantum systems using hundreds of quantum bits to perform computational tasks. Such tasks will have the strongest applications in biology, chemistry, and physics.
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