NIST Scientists Use Microwaves to Quantum-Entangle Two Ions for the First Time
We’re still many years away from the first functioning quantum computer the size of a building, much less the first one the size of a desktop computer or a smartphone, but researchers at the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST) are already moving toward smaller quantum computing devices. For the first time, physicists there have entangled two ions using microwaves rather than the usual array of laser beams, paving the way for miniaturized, easy-to-commercialize quantum computing technologies.
Quantum computers would leverage the unique properties of the quantum world to solve huge computing problems—problems our best and biggest classical supercomputers can’t cope with. But first we have to gain precise control over those particles, turning them into quantum analogs for our classical computer bits.