Quantum Computer Processor Made of Lasers Offers ‘Extreme Scalability’

(Inverse) A quantum computer with a processor made entirely out of laser lights offers “extreme scalability,” claim its creators who comprise team from the United States, Japan, and Australia.
“Our approach starts with extreme scalability — built-in from the very beginning — because the processor, called a cluster state, is made out of light,” Nicolas Menicucci, chief investigator at the Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, said in a statement.
The group’s processor is perhaps more accurately known as a cluster state. This is a collection of entangled quantum components. A cluster state is capable of using these components to perform quantum computations in a specific way.
The problem is, two decades after they were first discussed, all cluster states have failed on two metrics. They need to be big enough to actually face real-world problems, and they need to have the correct entanglement structure.
“Ours is the first ever to succeed at both,” Menicucci said.