Engineers crack 58-year-old puzzle on way to quantum breakthrough

A mishap during an experiment led UNSW quantum computing researchers to crack a mystery that had stood since 1961.

Engineers crack 58-year-old puzzle on way to quantum breakthrough 200312_andreavincentserwan_4

Engineers crack 58-year-old puzzle on way to quantum breakthrough 200312_andreavincentserwan_4

A happy accident in the laboratory has led to a breakthrough discovery that not only solved a problem that stood for more than half a century, but has major implications for the development of quantum computers and sensors.

In a study published today in Nature, a team of engineers at UNSW Sydney has done what a celebrated scientist first suggested in 1961 was possible, but has eluded everyone since: controlling the nucleus of a single atom using only electric fields.

“This discovery means that we now have a pathway to build quantum computers using single-atom spins without the need for any oscillating magnetic field for their operation,” says UNSW’s Scientia Professor of Quantum Engineering Andrea Morello. “Moreover, we can use these nuclei as exquisitely precise sensors of electric and magnetic fields, or to answer fundamental questions in quantum science.”

https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/engineers-crack-58-year-old-puzzle-way-quantum-breakthrough

Engineers crack 58-year-old puzzle on way to quantum breakthrough

Engineers crack 58-year-old puzzle on way to quantum breakthrough

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