Silicon Updates: Qubits based Silicon Quantum Microchips for Quantum Computers

Transistors are the building blocks of any electronic device. These transistors work in two states – ON and OFF, where ON represents logical 1 and OFF represent logical 0. This is very conventional and a transistor can represent either 1 or 0 at any given point of time.

Now, let us talk about the new paradigm of computing – Qubits. For Quantum computers, the approach is little different. Based upon the nature of quantum mechanics, a Qubit can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously, the state which scientists call superposition. Qubit is the basic building block of quantum computers.

The state of superposition allows a quantum computer, two calculations can be performed simultaneously. For ‘n’ qubits linked together, 2ⁿ number of calculations can be performed simultaneously.

As team of scientists from the University of New South Wales, Australia have been working on qubits for quantum computers. According to their research, theoretically, a quantum computer with 300 qubits is capable of performing as many calculations as the number of atoms in the visible universe at any given point of time.

Along with qubits, there are five approaches for the realization of quantum computers – Silicon spin qubits, Topological qubits, Ion traps, Diamond vacancies and Superconducting loops.

Though there is rigorous research being carried on quantum computing, the results are not yet up to the mark. The major challenged faced by quantum computing using qubits is its vulnerability to noise and temperature. Scientists are working on methods to reduce these vulnerabilities. On the other hand, the number of qubits that can be accumulated per chip is also challenging.

Andrew Dzurak is the director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Recently, he has published a paper which puts up the work achieved by his team.

All of the components can be manufactured using a conventional silicon chip manufacturing plant using standard CMOS materials. This is the first that integrates everything on one chip. Basically, the error correction method would allow 1 million qubits to be contained on a chip that is the same size as a conventional microprocessor. - Andrew Dzurak