Harnessing Quantum Drum Technology for the Future of Quantum Computing

Wednesday - April 17 2024, 11:20 UTC - 7 months ago

Scientists have developed a new way to store and transmit quantum data using a quantum drum, a small membrane that can convert light signals into sonic vibrations. This technology has the potential to greatly advance the capabilities of quantum computers and create a quantum internet with lightning-fast speeds and unparalleled security.

Just beneath Niels Bohr's old office is a basement where scattered tables are covered with small mirrors, lasers, and an agglomeration of all types of devices connected by webs of wires and heaps of tape. It looks like a child's project gone too far, one that their parents have tried in vain to get them to clean up.

While it is difficult for the untrained eye to discern that these tables are actually the home to an array of world-leading research projects, the important stuff is happening within worlds so small that not even Newton's laws apply. This is where Niels Bohr's quantum physical heirs are developing the most cutting-edge of quantum technologies.

One of these projects stands out – for physicists at least – by the fact that a gizmo visible to the naked eye is able to achieve quantum states. The quantum drum is a small membrane made of a ceramic, glass-like material with holes scattered in a neat pattern along its edges.

When the drum is beaten with the light of a laser, it begins vibrating, and does so, so quickly and undisturbed, that quantum mechanics come into play. This property has long since caused a stir by opening up a number of quantum technological possibilities.

Now, a collaboration across various quantum areas at the Institute has demonstrated that the drum can also play a key role for the future's network of quantum computers. Like modern alchemists, researchers have created a new form of "quantum memory" by converting light signals into sonic vibrations.

In a just-published research article, the researchers have proven that quantum data from a quantum computer emitted as light signals – e.g., through the type of fiber-optic cable already used for high-speed internet connections – can be stored as vibrations in the drum and then forwarded.

Previous experiments demonstrated to researchers that the membrane can remain in an otherwise fragile quantum state. And on this basis, they believe that the drum should be able to receive and transmit quantum data without it "decohering", i.e., losing its quantum state when the quantum computers are ready.

"This opens up great perspectives for the day when quantum computers can really do what we expect them to. Quantum memory is likely to be fundamental for sending quantum information over distances. So, what we've developed is a crucial piece in the very foundation for an internet of the future with quantum speed and quantum security," says postdoc Mads Bjerregaard Kristensen of the Niels Bohr Institute, lead author of the new research article.

When transferring information between two quantum computers over a distance – or among many in a quantum internet – the signal will quickly be drowned out by noise. The amount of noise in a fiber-optic cable increases exponentially the longer the cable is. Eventually, data can no longer be decoded.

The classical Internet and other major computer networks solve this noise problem by amplifying signals in small stations along transmission routes. But for quantum computers to apply an analogous method, their fragile quantum data must first be protected. That's where the quantum drum comes in. By converting quantum data into sonic vibrations, it can prevent loss and distortion of the data, allowing it to be transmitted accurately over longer distances.

The potential impact of this technology is immense. With the ability to store and transmit quantum data, the quantum drum could play a crucial role in creating a quantum internet and significantly advancing the capabilities of quantum computers. With the help of this small but powerful drum, we may be on our way to a future of quantum speed and quantum security.