Linking Rings through Diamines and Clusters

by Marco Affronte et al. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 13 Sep 2005 (online) Scientists at The University of Manchester have made a major breakthrough which could pave the way for a new type of high-speed computer. Professor Richard Winpenny, of the School of Chemistry and a team of international researchers, have discovered a new method which could hold the key to creating the first practical quantum computers. If built, quantum computers would be the most powerful computers ever made, with speeds millions of times faster than the average PC for some calculations. These speeds would be valuable in factoring large numbers, and therefore extremely useful for encrypting information. Professor Winpenny and the research team have for the first time demonstrated how qubit rings, pieces of quantum information, can be linked together. The breakthrough, which results from three years research, opens up the possibility of being able to create quantum gates -- a more advanced version of processors found in modern computers. Read more