Closing in on 'holy grail' of room temperature quantum computing chips

To process information, photons must interact. However, these tiny packets of light want nothing to do with each other, each passing by without altering the other. Now, researchers have coaxed photons into interacting with one another with unprecedented efficiency — a key advance toward realizing long-awaited quantum optics technologies for computing, communication and remote sensing.

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The future of 'extremely' energy-efficient circuits

Data centers are processing data and dispensing the results at astonishing rates and such robust systems require a significant amount of energy — so much energy, in fact, that information communication technology is projected to account for 20% of total energy consumption in the United States by 2020. To answer this demand, a team of researchers have developed a framework to reduce energy consumption while improving efficiency.

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Artificial intelligence probes dark matter in the universe

Physicists and computer scientists have developed a new approach to the problem of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. Using machine learning tools, they programmed computers to teach themselves how to extract the relevant information from maps of the universe.

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Scientists create fully electronic 2-dimensional spin transistors

Physicists have constructed a two-dimensional spin transistor, in which spin currents were generated by an electric current through graphene. A monolayer of a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) was placed on top of graphene to induce charge-to-spin conversion in the graphene.

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New method for detecting quantum states of electrons

Researchers have devised a new method — called image charge detection — to detect electrons' transitions to quantum states. Electrons can serve as quantum bits, the smallest unit of quantum information; these bits are foundational to larger computational systems. Quantum computers may be used to understand the mechanism of superconductivity, cryptography, artificial intelligence, among other applications.

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One step closer future to quantum computers

Physicists have identified how to distinguish between true and 'fake' Majorana states in one of the most commonly used experimental setups, by means of supercurrent measurements. This theoretical study is a crucial step for advancing the field of topological superconductors and applications of Majorana states for robust quantum computers. New experiments testing this approach are expected next.

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