Flip-flop qubits: Radical new quantum computing design invented | Andrea Morello

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Artist's impression of the 'flip-flop' qubits exhibiting quantum entanglement. Credit: Tony Melov/UNSW

Sept. 6, 2017 (Phys.org) -- Engineers at Australia's University of New South Wales have invented a radical new architecture for quantum computing, based on novel "flip-flop qubits" that promises to make the large-scale manufacture of quantum chips dramatically cheaper -- and easier -- than thought possible.

The new chip design, detailed in the journal Nature Communications, allows for a silicon quantum processor that can be scaled up without the precise placement of atoms required in other approaches. Importantly, it allows quantum bits (or "qubits") -- the basic unit of information in a quantum computer -- to be placed hundreds of nanometres apart and still remain coupled.

The design was conceived by a team led by Andrea Morello, Program Manager in UNSW-based ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T) in Sydney, who said fabrication of the new design should be easily within reach of today's technology.

"It's a brilliant design, and like many such conceptual leaps, it's amazing no-one had thought of it before," said Morello.

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