Effective control of single bit in quantum computer

8 July 2009

Researchers have achieved a major breakthrough in deliberately controlling a single bit in a quantum processing computer without disturbing the information stored in its neighborhood. Physicists at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) have devised the technique of manipulating the single bit of a quantum processor.

Qbits or quantum bits play a key role for carrying the information in quantum processors and maintaining desired control over these qbits was a great challenge. These qbits can be put in either “on” or “off” mode and thus are useful in solving the complex problems; however conventional computer fails to solve such problems.

To achieve a quantum bit, researchers took rubidium atom, which can have as such as eight different energy states. Researchers did a careful selection of the two energy states and designed them as “on” and “off” positions. The selected energy states should completely be insensitive to the strayed magnetic field.

Researchers at NIST used two pairs of energy states and designed them for two different purposes. The purpose of the first pair was for storing information and the purpose of second pair was for computation work. Whenever a computational task is required, a magnetic field is applied to the qbit without disturbing the surrounding qbits.

Researchers at NIST took an array of atoms and grouped them in pair allowing them to simplify the process of selecting a qbit from many options available for them. With the research now available with the scientists, they are hopeful for making a quantum computer that is still a challenge before the scientific community since long time.

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