(IS.ACS.org.au) Australian firm Archer Exploration Limited has claimed a significant advance towards building a quantum computer that can operate outside of the laboratory. The breakthrough came as the research organisation found a way to position a single carbon-based qubit, just 50 nanometres across, onto a silicon wafer with extreme accuracy.
To date, quantum-computing setups have required the support of supercooling infrastructure that makes them inaccessible outside of carefully designed laboratories. One of the core goals of the 12CQ project, which kicked off earlier this year, is to enable quantum computing at room temperature – allowing quantum computers to be distributed en masse.