ICN2 and Microsoft Partner Development of a Scalable Quantum Computer

(Phys.org) The Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) is expanding its collaboration with the global network of Microsoft Quantum Labs in furtherance of Microsoft’s goal of developing a scalable quantum computer—a vastly more powerful informatics tool based on radically different physics principles. The ICN2 laboratories will provide atomic-scale measurements, analysis, and modelling of new materials.
ICN2 will contribute to Microsoft’s research on majorana fermions–particles of the fermion class that have the characteristic of being their own antiparticles. In condensed matter physics, Majorana bound states can appear under specific conditions: special quantum states that can be used as qubits.
In order to fully understand and exploit the potential of these new structures, they must first be analysed and understood at the atomic level. The ICN2 Advanced Electron Nanoscopy Group, led by ICREA Prof. Jordi Arbiol, will provide its expertise in electron microscopy and related spectroscopies.