Research Team’s Optical Microchip Brings Quantum Computing One Step Closer

(Phys.org) A research team has developed the first optical microchip to generate, manipulate and detect a particular state of light called squeezed vacuum, which is essential for quantum computation. An optical microchip has most of the basic functionality required for creating future quantum computers.
Griffith University in Queensland led the project in collaboration with the University of Munster in Germany, The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of New South Wales-Canberra, supported by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology.
Co-researcher Professor Elanor Huntington, Dean of the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, and program manager for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, explained, “What we have demonstrated with this device is an important technological step towards making an optical quantum computer, which will solve certain problems much faster than today’s computers,” Professor Huntington said. An optical quantum computer, which has the potential to engineer new drugs and optimize energy-saving methods.