Ions Trapped on a Chip

by Belle Dumé physicsweb.org News, 13 Dec 2005 By encoding information in the quantum states of subatomic particles, quantum computers have the potential to make the latest Pentium chip look as outmoded as the abacus. But before such a device can even begin to compete with its classical counterpart, we need to first find a way to scale-up individual quantum "bits." Now, physicists in the US have made an important step towards this goal by creating an ion trap on a semiconductor chip. Such microscale traps could allow many qubits to be integrated in a workable quantum computer. Read more