Electronic traps can be calculated

Physicists at ETH Zurich have used semiconductors to create overlapping quantum dots that can trap electronic particles.

These dots can not only be studied by lasers but also affect their own energy. Besides, a quantum dot capable of controlling dots lies above it. This has led researchers to take a step closer to quantum computers.

Quantum physicists at ETH Zurich have developed semiconductor systems that can be used for quantum computing if needed. They develop acrystalline gallium crystals. Above them, they placed two layers of indium-gallium acid from which formed a quantum-like dot. Lucio Robledo, author of the paper published in Science, said: 'Quantum dots are like artificial atoms, only slightly bigger; two dots overlap to form an artificial molecule. '

The light quantum research team at ETH Zurich led by Atac Imamoglu succeeded in distributing quantum dots with electronic particles, controlling them with lasers as well as analyzing properties. At the same time they determine exactly how many electrons are in an electronic dot in the semiconductor system. But more than that, they were able to pair the charged particles into them.

Electronic particles in binary form

Each electron particle has a certain rotation, which means it rotates in one direction around the axis; so like a quantum magnet with quantum chemical properties. For years, research on theoretical and experimental quantum physics has focused on understanding those properties to control them.

The electronic particle rotation application for carrying encrypted information was also considered a few years ago. The basic information component in a conventional computer is a binary coefficient with values ​​0 and 1. This is not true for quantum, they can carry two values ​​at the same time.

That means an electronic particle has two different directions of rotation at the same time. Jeroen Elzerman, co-author of the study, emphasized: 'This is a fundamental mystery of the quantum world.' However, he also said, this allows many computer activities to be done at the same time, increasing the speed of computers many times.

Quantum dot scans randomly arranged.(Photo: ETH Zurich)

Optical control

The team of photonics has used two quantum dots to be joined together to study semiconductor systems, because they affect each other. The value of a dot affects the dot above it, and vice versa. In addition, they can control these values ​​by external optics, which means using laser excitation. Robledo said: 'We have found a way to control the interaction and communication between quantum dots' . The control interaction presented in the study may be a suitable way to perform basic quantum operations.

Rotation control of quantum dots is an important step for the team of photonics. For example, they can set the rotation value for electrons in a certain direction with high reliability. Physicists can also pair individual quantum dots with nanoscale optical resonators.

The potential on a large scale is unclear.

Despite these impressive successes, Atac Imamoglu hesitated when evaluating quantum dots is the most promising path to quantum computers, because a large number of nanoscale physical phenomena have not been decoded. In addition, the structure of a quantum computer must be able to expand according to the form of a conventional computer - that is, a transistor as a component of the microprocessor - to allow the addition of a binary system. Quantum thousands of numbers. Researchers still need to find a solution to the challenge facing quantum dots physics.