Phys.org February 16, 2022
Researchers at Caltech have developed an approach for quantum storage that relies on nuclear spins oscillating collectively as a spin wave. This collective oscillation effectively chains up several atoms to store information. They utilized a qubit made from an ion of ytterbium and embedded the ion in a transparent crystal of yttrium orthovanadate (YVO4) and manipulated its quantum states via a combination of optical and microwave fields. The Yb qubit was used to control the nuclear spin states of multiple surrounding vanadium atoms in the crystal. A unique feature of this system is the pre-determined placement of vanadium atoms around the ytterbium qubit as prescribed by the crystal lattice. Every qubit the team measured had an identical memory register, meaning it would store the same information. Multiple quantum computers can be connected to share data creating a “quantum internet.” This would open the door to several applications, including the ability to solve computations that are too large to be handled by a single quantum computer, the establishment of unbreakably secure communications using quantum cryptography…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Schematic of a many-body nuclear spin register for optically coupled 171Yb qubits in a nanophotonic cavity. Credit: Nature volume 602, pages408–413 (2022)Â