The World's First Programmable Quantum Computer

With only a few intense lasers, electrodes and some ultracold ions, researchers at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, have been able to build the first programmable quantum computer.

What makes this experiment different is that this new system is able to perform more than 150 random processing routines.

For Quantum computers to become more useful, these machines should be able to be progammed just like a normal computer can be programmed. This will of course mean that the system will be able to run many different programs. Up until now, earlier versions of quantum computers have been very restricted with regards to the amount of specific tasks they could perform.

The new study is "a powerful demonstration of the technological advances towards producing a real-world quantum computer," says quantum physicist Winfried Hensinger of the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. The researchers, led by David Hanneke of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo. built the computer based on two cooled beryllium ions with a temperature of just above zero.

The ions formed the quantum bits, or qubits, analogous to the bits in normal computers represented by 0s and 1s, and were trapped by a magnetic field on a gold-plated aluminum chip. To perform the processing operations, short laser bursts were used to manipulate the beryllium ions. Magnesium ions kept the beryllium ions stationary, and from getting hot. It is believed that this system may be applied to larger-scale systems.

The system built was mostly experimental, but what is important is the fact that the principal may be applied on a larger scale, and therefor become practical.