Quantum computing

The NMR spectrometer in the Quantum Engineering Group (QEG) lab

Scientists gain new visibility into quantum information transfer

Advance holds promise for “wiring” of quantum computers and other systems, and opens new avenues for understanding basic workings of the quantum realm.

March 8, 2018

Physicists at MIT and Harvard University have found that graphene, a lacy, honeycomb-like sheet of carbon atoms, can behave at two electrical extremes: as an insulator, in which electrons are completely blocked from flowing; and as a superconductor, in which electrical current can stream through without resistance.

Insulator or superconductor? Physicists find graphene is both

When rotated at a "magic angle," graphene sheets can form an insulator or a superconductor.

March 5, 2018

Scientists at MIT, Harvard University, and elsewhere have now demonstrated that photons can be made to interact — an accomplishment that could open a path toward using photons in quantum computing, if not in light sabers.

Physicists create new form of light

Newly observed optical state could enable quantum computing with photons.

February 15, 2018

Physicists at MIT and Harvard University have demonstrated a new way to manipulate quantum bits of matter. The researchers report using a system of finely tuned lasers to first trap and then tweak the interactions of 51 individual atoms, or quantum bits.

Scientists demonstrate one of largest quantum simulators yet, with 51 atoms

New technique manipulates atoms into antiferromagnetic state.

November 29, 2017

The 2017 MIT recipients of the U.S. Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowships are (clockwise from top left) Peter Ahrens, Miriam Rathbun, Annie Yuan Wei, and Kevin Silmore.

Grad students earn Department of Energy computational fellowships

Ahrens, Rathbun, Silmore, and Wei are recognized for tackling complex science and engineering problems of national importance.

October 11, 2017

This vacuum chamber with apertures for several laser beams was used to cool molecules of sodium-potassium down to temperatures of a few hundred nanoKelvins, or billionths of a degree above absolute zero. Such molecules could be used as a new kind of qubit, a building block for eventual quantum computers.

Ultracold molecules hold promise for quantum computing

New approach yields long-lasting configurations that could provide long-sought “qubit” material.

July 27, 2017

A micrograph of the MIT researchers’ new device, with a visualization of electrical-energy measurements and a schematic of the device layout superimposed on it.

Toward optical quantum computing

Prototype device enables photon-photon interactions at room temperature.

June 16, 2017

A team of researchers from MIT, Harvard University, and Sandia National Laboratories reports a new technique for creating targeted defects in diamond materials, which is simpler and more precise than its predecessors and could benefit diamond-based quantum computing devices.

Toward mass-producible quantum computers

Process for positioning quantum bits in diamond optical circuits could work at large scales.

May 26, 2017

MIT physicists have found that a flake of graphene, when brought in close proximity with two superconducting materials, can inherit some of those materials’ superconducting qualities. As graphene is sandwiched between superconductors, its electronic state changes dramatically, even at its center. Pictured is the experimental concept and device schematic.

Sandwiched between superconductors, graphene adopts exotic electronic states

Platform may be used to explore avenues for quantum computing.

May 4, 2017

“I fell in love with physics,” says senior Zachary Hulcher. “I appreciate light bouncing off a mirror, and smoke billowing up, and light going through it in a different way. … The small things I took for granted when I didn’t understand them, I appreciate now. Everything is just a little prettier.”

From football to physics

Zachary Hulcher, Marshall Scholar and offensive lineman, will study high-energy physics in the U.K.

February 27, 2017

In this illustration, each colored line represents a different state of a “spin chain,” which can be thought of as the magnetic orientations, or spins, of a string of quantum particles. Where the line rises, the spin is up; where it falls, the spin is down; and where it’s flat, the spin is zero. MIT researchers modeled the entanglement of a quantum system as the “superposition” of such s...

Entanglement bonanza

Relatively simple quantum computers could be much more powerful than previously realized.

November 18, 2016

This image shows the basic setup that enables researchers to use lasers as optical “tweezers” to pick individual atoms out from a cloud and hold them in place. The atoms are imaged onto a camera, and the traps are generated by a laser that is split into many different focused laser beams. This allows a single atom to be trapped at each focus.

Scientists set traps for atoms with single-particle precision

Technique may enable large-scale atom arrays for quantum computing.

November 3, 2016

“Learning from this model, we can understand what’s really going on in these superconductors, and what one should do to make higher-temperature superconductors, approaching hopefully room temperature,” says Martin Zwierlein, professor of physics and principal investigator in MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics.

For first time, researchers see individual atoms keep away from each other or bunch up as pairs

Observations of atomic interactions could help pave way to room-temperature superconductors.

September 15, 2016

Toward practical quantum computers

Built-in optics could enable chips that use trapped ions as quantum bits.

August 8, 2016

Arrows indicate the spin direction in the ferromagnetic insulator (EuS, shown in red) and topological insulator (Bi2Se3, shown in blue) at the interface between the two materials.

Researchers find unexpected magnetic effect

Combining two thin-film materials yields surprising room-temperature magnetism.

May 9, 2016

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