Osegi
Science·1 min read

Quantum memory made of vibrations: ETH Zurich's tiny resonators

ETH Zurich researchers stored quantum information as tiny mechanical vibrations on a chip, and ran real quantum operations on it, not just storage.

A microchip with tiny mechanical resonators used as quantum memory, shown in a physics laboratory.
Image: اليوم السابع
SUMODialoediviewergiftdetect

A quantum computer that remembers things by shaking, very slightly. That is the idea behind a new quantum memory built by a team at ETH Zurich, the Swiss federal technology institute, where researcher Yiwen Chu and colleagues store information as vibrations inside an electronic chip.

Most current experiments rely on electromagnetic ways of holding quantum information. The Swiss team instead used microscopic mechanical parts called resonators, which can vibrate in specific patterns that carry the information. A processor built around a superconducting qubit, the basic unit of a quantum computer, does the actual computing. When it needs a stored value, it interacts with the resonator to read or change it, then hands it back to the memory.

If that sounds familiar, it is: the layout mirrors the split between a processor and short-term memory in an ordinary computer, only built on quantum physics. The results were published in the journal Science.

Does it actually compute, or just store?

It computes. The researchers tested the system with a quantum Fourier transform and a period-finding algorithm, two operations used when developing quantum algorithms. Both ran using the mechanical memory.

The hope is that this approach could eventually lead to smaller quantum computers that hold on to information longer during calculations, which is one of the problems holding the technology back.

Is this a quantum computer you can buy?

No. The test was done on a limited laboratory model, and it has not become a commercial machine. The team still has to show the design works with many more components, while keeping operations accurate and shielding fragile quantum states from noise and disturbances.

Apps worth a look

SUMO: the number puzzle

Tap the right tiles, add them up, hit the target. Easy to learn, hard to master. Free, for all ages.

Tags:quantum computingeth zurichquantum memorymechanical resonatorssuperconducting qubit

More from this day

See all →

More in: Science

See all →