AsianScientist (Jul. 17, 2019) – Researchers from the Yokohama National University have successfully teleported quantum information securely within the confines of a diamond. Their study, published in Communications Physics, has big implications for the future of quantum information technology.
“Quantum teleportation permits the transfer of quantum information into an otherwise inaccessible space,” said Hideo Kosaka, a professor of engineering at Yokohama National University and an author on the study. “It also permits the transfer of information into a quantum memory without revealing or destroying the stored quantum information.”
In this study, the researchers used the carbon atoms in diamond as the inaccessible space. A carbon atom holds six protons and six neutrons in its nucleus, surrounded by six spinning electrons. As the atoms bond into a diamond, they form a notoriously strong lattice.
However, when a nitrogen atom replaces a carbon atom the diamond has a defect that is called a ntirogen-vacancy center. Surrounded by carbon atoms, the nucleus structure of the nitrogen atom creates a nanomagnet.
To manipulate an electron and a carbon isotope in the vacancy, Kosaka and the team attached a wire about a quarter the width of a human hair to the surface of a diamond. They applied a microwave and a radio wave to the wire to build an oscillating magnetic field around the diamond. They then shaped the microwave to create the optimal, controlled conditions for the transfer of quantum information within the diamond.
The team used the nitrogen nanomagnet to anchor an electron. Using the microwave and radio waves, the researchers forced the electron spin to entangle with a carbon nuclear spin, the angular momentum of the electron and the nucleus of a carbon atom. The electron spin breaks down under a magnetic field created by the nanomagnet, allowing it to become susceptible to entanglement.
Once the two pieces are entangled, a photon which holds quantum information is applied and the electron absorbs the photon. The absorption allows the polarization state of the photon to be transferred into the carbon, which is mediated by the entangled electron, demonstrating a teleportation of information at the quantum level.
“The success of the photon storage in the other node establishes the entanglement between two adjacent nodes,” Kosaka said. Called quantum repeaters, the process can take individual chunks of information from node to node, across the quantum field.
“Our ultimate goal is to realize scalable quantum repeaters for long-haul quantum communications and distributed quantum computers for large-scale quantum computation and metrology,” Kosaka said.
The article can be found at: Tsurumoto et al. (2019) Quantum Teleportation-based State Transfer of Photon Polarization Into a Carbon Spin in Diamond.
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Source: Yokohama National University.
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