Trapping atoms for quantum computing
April 26, 2005 | Source: KurzweilAI
Ohio State University scientists have taken a step toward the development of quantum computers by making tiny holes in an egg carton-shaped surface of laser light that could one day cradle atoms.
They’ve been able to form about a billion gaseous rubidium atoms into a pea-sized cloud with magnetic fields. Now they are working to move that cloud into position above a chip supporting an optical lattice formed where two sets of laser beams cross inside a thin transparent coating on the chip. Theoretically, if they release the atoms above the chip in just the right way, the atoms will fall into the traps — the first step towards making a quantum memory chip.