Ewha Research Team Leads the Development of a New, World-leading Type of Quantum Computer
- 작성처
- Date2023.10.10
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Ewha Research Team Leads the Development of a New, World-leading Type of Quantum Computer
A research team from the Center for Quantum Nanoscience under the Institute for Basic Science (IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience), led by Director Andreas Heinrich, a chair professor of the Department of Physics at Ewha Womans University, has been garnering international attention upon proposing a new type of quantum computing platform through international joint research with teams from Japan, Spain, and the U.S. The joint teams used an innovative design method that is completely different from existing quantum computers. The research result was published in Science, one of the world’s most prestigious academic journals, on October 6, 2023.
Professor Heinrich’s team held a press conference at the Research Cooperation Building on the Ewha campus on October 5, 2023, where he presented the new quantum platform using electron spins of single atoms on a solid surface and announced that his team had successfully established a multi-qubit (quantum bit) system by using three electron spins. With this groundbreaking achievement, the research team is expected to take the initiative in opening a new era of quantum information science for the future.
As a research leader on the quantum properties of single atoms placed on a solid surface, the research team of the IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience published the research finding in May 2023 that they were able to control single-atom electron spins and harness them as qubits by using the “scanning tunneling microscope in combination with electron spin resonance (ESR-STM),” a state-of-the-art instrument that the team had independently developed. In a previous study, Heinrich’s team had also proposed a method to “remotely control” the spin state of remote atoms, as opposed to the atoms directly interacting with a probe tip. This time, they were successful in establishing a “multi-qubit” system to allow the application of the previous study’s finding to a multi-qubit structure.
The qubit platform proposed by the research team consists of a structure in which a number of titanium atoms are placed on the surface of a thin magnesium oxide insulator. First, the researchers manipulated each atom’s position with precision using the probe tip of the scanning tunneling microscope to construct a structure of multiple titanium atoms to enable interactions between the spinning atoms. They then set the probe tip at the titanium atom to serve as a sensor in the structure and applied the remote control method, thereby successfully controlling and measuring multiple distant qubits simultaneously using only a single probe tip. The greatest advantage of the proposed platform is that it can control information exchanges between qubits more precisely down to the atomic scale through a bottom-up integration method using a probe tip. This platform differs from existing ones in that it can prevent crystal defects in the solid material and enable the implementation of atomic integrated circuits with individual qubits of 1 nanometer or less in size. The platform can also select various atoms as materials for qubits, as opposed to other platforms that need to use specific materials such as superconductors.