One of the ways to fully exploit the potential of quantum computers is to have them based on both light and matter. In this way, information can travel at the speed of light while being stored and processed.
Scientists have moved one step closer to this goal by successfully producing the largest hybrid particles of light and matter ever created. Known as
Rydberg polaritons, these quasiparticles were created with the help of a piece of stone containing copper oxide (Cu2O) crystals from an ancient deposit in Namibia, one of the few places in the world where gemstone-quality copper oxide is found. The crystal extracted from the stone was polished, made thinner than a human hair, and sandwiched between two mirrors to trap light. This allowed the creation of Rydberg polaritons 100 times larger than those seen before.
With this achievement, scientists have created a system that can work with Rydberg polaritons, using quantum bits or qubits to store information in 0s, 1s, and multiple values in between, instead of just 1s and 0s of classical computing bits. getting closer to producing a quantum simulator.
Physicist Hamid Ohadi of the University of St Andrews, UK, says, “Making a quantum simulator with light is the holy grail of science.”
Why are Rydberg polaritons so special?
What makes Rydberg polaritons so special is that they constantly bounce back from light to matter and back to light. Researchers define light and matter as two sides of the same coin, and the side with which polaritons can interact is the matter side.
This is a very important definition, since light particles can move quickly, but do not interact with each other. Matter is slower, but can interact. Combining these two capabilities could help tap into the potential of quantum computers.
This flexibility has a very important place in the management of quantum states that remain undefined until observed. Although a fully functioning quantum computer built on this technology still lies in the unknown future, we are now closer than ever to building such a computer.
It should be noted that the research was published in the journal Nature Materials…
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