Ion Trap: Programmable Quantum Computer

Ion Trap Makes Programmable Quantum Computer (+Video)

Al Williams | August 14, 2016

The Joint Quantum Institute published a recent paper detailing a quantum computer constructed with five qubits formed from trapped ions. The novel architecture allows the computer to accept programs for multiple algorithms.
Quantum computers make use of qubits and trapped ions–ions confined with an electromagnetic field–are one way to create them. In particular, a linear radio frequency trap and laser cooling traps five ytterbium ions with a separation of about 5 microns. To entangle the qubits, the device uses 50 to 100 laser pulses on individual or pairs of ions. The pulse shape determines the actual function performed, which is how the device is programmable. The operations depend on the sequence of laser pulses that activate it.

(Different view: the team's trap lines up five ions.) "More problematic though is the fact that the practical engineering of trapped-ion qubits lags behind that of silicon and solid-state platforms because there are very few industrial companies that make these ionic devices, according to Monroe. "Sandia National Laboratories is one of the few places that manufacture monolithic chips with microfabricated electrodes for the reliable loading and trapping of atomic ions, and the future of this technology will depend upon Sandia and other places like Honeywell, Inc. to produce more varieties of these chips", says [Chris] Monroe [Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science]." Source: http://hackaday.com/2016/08/14/ion-trap-makes-programmable-quantum-computer/

[Click on link for video] Source: http://hackaday.com/2016/08/14/ion-trap-makes-programmable-quantum-computer/

<more at http://hackaday.com/2016/08/14/ion-trap-makes-programmable-quantum-computer/; related articles and links: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2016/aug/03/ion-trap-quantum-computer-is-programmable-and-reconfigurable (Ion-trap quantum computer is programmable and reconfigurable. August 3, 2016) and http://phys.org/news/2016-08-programmable-ions-stage-general-purpose-quantum.html (Programmable ions set the stage for general-purpose quantum computers. August 3, 2016)>