Quantum computing has a long way to go before becoming
truly mainstream, but that certainly hasn't stopped us from indulging in dreams of a
qubit-based existence.
The latest bit of fantasy fodder comes from the University of
California, Santa Barbara, where researchers have become the first to
combine a quantum processor with memory mechanisms on a single chip. To
do this, Matteo Mariantoni and his team of scientists connected two
qubits with a quantum bus and linked each of them to a memory element,
capable of storing their current values in the same way that RAM stores
data on conventional computers. These qubit-memory links also contained
arrays of resonators -- jagged, yet easily controlled circuits that can
store values for shorter periods of time. The qubits, meanwhile, were
constructed using superconducting circuits, allowing the UCSB team to
nestle their qubits even closer together, in accordance with the von
Neumann architecture that governs most commercial computers. Once
everything was in place, the researchers used their system to run
complex algorithms and operations that could be eventually used to
decode data encryption. The next step, of course, is to scale up the
design, though Mariantoni says that shouldn't be too much of a problem,
thanks to his system's resonators -- which, according to him, "represent
the future of quantum computing with integrated circuits."
