Quantum computing silicon breakthrough

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A discovery team of researchers in the UK has proved that it is possible for electrons to exist in two places at once using silicon.

The effective bilocation of electrons is not a new concept, it is at the core of quantum computing, but has not been done accomplished with silicon before, although the technique is currently used in magnetic resonance imaging.

In a paper in science journal Nature, a team of UK and Dutch researchers lead by the University of Surrey explains how the idea that electrons can be in two places at once can be transferred to silicon, making a quantum computer possible, and crucially, more affordable.

“Electrons within the silicon crystals, just the totally standard silicon crystal they use in computer chips, can be in two places at once,” said Professor Ben Murdin.

The team used an intense laser to put electrons in silicon into two states at once, called the quantum superposition state.

“You can imagine if a computer bit can be in either a zero or a one in a normal computer, in the future, if we manage to take advantage of this discovery, the computer bit can be both one and zero at the same time,” he explained. “It gives you more powerful operations. It will, in principle, make computers much faster and able to solve problems that weren’t previously possible.”

Wandering off
Such dual states have already been demonstrated, with small quantum computing operations executed. “The computers that people are able to make in atoms held in free space can hold very small pieces of information at the moment,” Murdin said. “The technology just isn’t there to put the equivalent of a transistor… in that sort of system at once. The atoms, they essentially start to wander off, as they’re sitting in a vacuum in free space.”

And that’s why the silicon revelation is important. “If you can use that type of technology in a silicon crystal, then you can scale up to have lots of bits, lots of transistors, lots of logic gates all at once, in one single computer,” he said.

“It’s the material of choice for doing anything with electronics, so if you’re able to put electrons in a silicon chip in these two states at once, it gives you hope that you’ll eventually be able to make a working computer out of it.”

Transistor first
Despite the discovery, quantum computing is still some ways off. Murdin’s team was just awarded a five-year grant from the Government Research Council.

“By the end of that project, we aim to have produced one transistor,” he said. “That maybe doesn’t sound very impressive, but considering the fact that would be the first solid transistor made out of a material you could in principal scale up, it would be a major achievement.”

Murdin hopes the discovery will also spur more silicon research, which he says lags behind US and Asian efforts. “I’m hopeful it will trigger more of a resurgence and interest in silicon research in the UK.”

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