Media Tip: The quest for an ideal quantum bit
image: A new qubit platform: Electrons from a heated light filament land on solid neon, where a single electron (represented as a wave function in blue) is trapped and manipulated by a superconducting quantum circuit. view more
Credit: (Image by Argonne National Laboratory/ Dafei Jin.)
Scientists have developed a new platform for hosting the fundamental unit of quantum computing, the qubit. It is formed by freezing neon gas into a solid, spraying electrons from a light bulb’s filament onto it, and trapping a single electron there. This new qubit platform could transform quantum information science and technology.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.