/ News
Researchers use light and sound waves to control electron states
University of Oregon physicists have combined light and sound to control electron states in an atom-like system, providing a new tool in efforts to move toward quantum-computing systems.
The work was done on diamond topped with a layer of zinc oxide containing electrical conductors and performed at a temperature of 8 degrees Kelvin (-445.27 Fahrenheit, -265.15 Celsius)—just above absolute zero.
Using sound waves known as surface acoustic waves to change electron states could foster data transfer between quantum bits, the researcher said. The interaction of qubits, as is the case with binary bits in current computing, is seen as vital in building advanced systems.
The research is detailed in a paper placed online April 7 by the journal Physical Review Letters.
"Computer chips in today's systems are based on electrical circuits," said Hailin Wang, a professor in the UO Department of Physics and member of the Oregon Center for Optical, Molecular and Quantum Science. "What we have accomplished could lead to a new architecture—a new way—to design a computer chip. Instead of using electrical circuits we incorporate sound waves on a chip, with our eyes on acoustic circuits and also on potential applications in tomorrow's quantum computers."
The research focused on a goal of quantum-computing research—taking advantage of defects in diamond known as nitrogen vacancy centers, where a nitrogen atom substitutes for a carbon atom adjacent to a missing carbon atom. These defects are, in effect, artificial atoms that can be used as qubits.
It is in these centers where scientists want to harness control of the spin, or electron states, of qubits. Wang's lab is among many around the world looking to incorporate sound waves.
"We've brought in sound waves that we can drive into the diamond itself," said the study's lead author D. Andrew Golter, a research associate in Wang's lab. "We can tune the pitch to just the right frequency that lets us control the quantum state."
To add sound waves, researchers built a tiny speaker on the surface of diamond. Sound caused the diamond and zinc oxide layer to crunch up and expand back and forth. The sound wave travels across the surface of the diamond and interacts with the NV center. There, the researchers used lasers to monitor light being emitted, which allowed them to confirm electron states had been changed.
"You want qubits to be either on or off," Golter said. "We use sound and light to switch them between different states. Light works well for some contexts, but it is sometimes hard to work with. If two qubits are in different locations and we want them to talk to each other, it is difficult to get light to go from one to the other. Light moves fast and can be hard to control. Sound is much slower, and it is easier to make it travel within this material because it automatically travels through solid matter."
In essence, using this new tool based on both light and sound can help create logic gates—the building blocks of digital circuitry—that serve to let qubits talk with one another, Wang said. "You can, in principle, use the sound waves to entangle two qubits," he said. "For quantum computers you need this."
For a solid material such as a chip, sound may be an ideal tool for building a network of interacting atoms, with sound waves carrying information from one atom to the next, Golter said.
"For basic physics and for potential technological applications, we want to have tools to control single atoms in really tiny systems," he said. "Our approach has advantages. Sound is slow compared to light. Sound is confined to the chip. It would be a good way to do operations inside the solid material. We've shown this with a single artificial atom, which now means we should be able to build up to multiple artificial atoms using sound to network them together."
Source: http://phys.org/news/2016-04-electron-states.html
/ About us
Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
/ Follow us at:
/ Contact:
For additional information, partnerships and sponsorship, contact:
info@2045.com
Media requesting information and interviews, contact PR@2045.com
LinkedIn
LiveJournal
Google
Twitter
Facebook
Я.ру
ВКонтакте
Mail.ru