New Silicon Chip-Based Quantum Computer Passes Major Test

There’s another @quantumcomputer to keep track of in this Wild West era of quantum computing research we’re in. And it uses some parts you might already be familiar with. Researchers from two teams now working with @Intel have reported advances in a new quantum computing architecture, called spin qubits, in a pair of papers out today. They’re obviously not the full-purpose quantum computers of the future. But they’ve got a major selling point over other quantum computing designs.

“We made these qubits in silicon chips, similar to what’s used in classical computer processes,” study author Thomas Watson from TU Delft in the Netherlands told me. “The hope is that by doing things this way, we can potentially scale up to larger numbers needed to perform useful quantum computing.” 

Quantum computers, for the uninitiated, turn the rules of computers on their head like the Wizard of Oz going from black-and-white to color. Classical computers perform all of their calculations by converting data into binary code. Each zero or one is represented by some physical two-choice bit. Quantum computers instead use “qubits”—quantum bits that take on the two valuessimultaneously during calculations. Pairs of qubits talk to one another using the rules of quantum mechanics. They output regular bit values once the user needs an answer. You can read this if you need more info.

https://gizmodo.com/new-silicon-chip-based-quantum-computer-passes-major-te-1822996512