Australian Scientists Achieve First Two-Qubit Gate Between Atom Qubits in Silicon

(UNSW.edu) A group of scientists led by 2018 Australian of the Year Professor Michelle Simmons have achieved the first two-qubit gate between atom qubits in silicon – a major milestone on the team’s quest to build an atom-scale quantum computer. The pivotal piece of research was published the journal Nature.
A two-qubit gate is the central building block of any quantum computer – and the UNSW team’s version of it is the fastest that’s ever been demonstrated in silicon, completing an operation in 0.8 nanoseconds, which is ~200 times faster than other existing spin-based two-qubit gates.
UNSW Science Dean, Professor Emma Johnston AO, says this key paper further shows just how ground-breaking Professor Simmons’ research is. “This was one of Michelle’s team’s final milestones to demonstrate that they can actually make a quantum computer using atom qubits. Their next major goal is building a 10-qubit quantum integrated circuit – and we hope they reach that within 3-4 years.”