Researchers 'one step closer to quantum computers'

e14news — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 23:13:32 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by e14news on 10/6/2021 11:13:32 PM

An optical transistor developed by researchers at ETH Zurich has brought scientists one step closer to creating the optical computer.

Today's central processing units limit the performance of computers because of the heat they produce, encouraging scientists to develop integrated circuits that operate on the basis of photons instead of electrons.

The research group at ETH Zurich has achieved a breakthrough by creating an optical transistor with a single molecule.

When a laser beam strikes a molecule in its ground state, the energy is absorbed into it and can then be released in a targeted way with a second beam.

Jaesuk Hwang, lead author of the study, explained: "Amplification in a conventional laser is achieved by an enormous number of molecules."

Last October saw ETH Zurich announce the completion of the Branco Weiss Information Science Laboratory, which includes the Siemens Auditorium and the Baugarten Value Lab.