Silicon Crystal Research a Possible Step Toward Quantum Computers

(Phys.org) A team at the University of Tsukuba studied a novel process for creating coherent lattice waves inside silicon crystals using ultrashort laser pulses. Using theoretical calculations combined with experimental results that were obtained at the University of Pittsburgh, they were able to show that coherent vibrational signals could be maintained inside the samples. This research may lead to quantum computers based on existing silicon devices that can rapidly perform tasks out of the reach of even the fastest supercomputers now available.
In the current research, a team at the University of Tsukuba and Hrvoje Petek, RK Mellon Chair of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh used very short laser pulses to excite electrons inside a silicon crystal. “The use of existing silicon for quantum computing will make the transition to quantum computers much easier,” first author Dr. Yohei Watanabe explains. The energetic electrons created coherent vibrations of the silicon structure, such that the motions of the electron and the silicon atoms became entangled.