Quantum Vapor Stabilizing Technique Has Implications for Quantum Computing Storage & Sensing

(Phys.org) A technique to stabilize alkali metal vapor density using gold nanoparticles, so electrons can be accessed for applications including quantum computing, atom cooling and precision measurements, has been patented by scientists at the University of Bath.
This has great potential for a range of applications, including logic operations, storage and sensing in quantum computing, as well as in ultra-precise time measurements with atomic clocks, or in medical diagnostics including cardiograms and encephalograms.
Scientists from the University of Bath, working with a colleague at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, have devised an ingenious method of controlling the vapor by coating the interior of containers with nanoscopic gold particles 300,000 times smaller than a pinhead.
Professor Ventsislav Valev, from the University of Bath’s Department of Physics led the research. He said: “We are very excited by this discovery because it has so many applications in current and future technologies! It would be useful in atomic cooling, in atomic clocks, in magnetometry and in ultra-high-resolution spectroscopy.”