Iowa State Research May Help ‘Create Crazy-Fast Quantum Computers by Nudging Supercurrents’

(SiliconRepublic) A breakthrough in quantum matter and energy at terahertz and nanometre scales – trillions of cycles per second and billionths of metres – could be a defining moment for quantum computers.
A team from Iowa State University has developed a “control knob” to accelerate supercurrents that could lead to the development of incredibly fast quantum computers. Jigang Wang and the team were able to demonstrate that terahertz light can be used to control some of the essential quantum properties of superconducting states. This included accessing certain very high-frequency quantum oscillations thought to be forbidden by symmetry.
“Light-induced supercurrents chart a path forward for electromagnetic design of emergent materials properties and collective coherent oscillations for quantum engineering applications,” the research team wrote in the paper. The team added that this could “create crazy-fast quantum computers by nudging supercurrents”.