First Solid-State Quantum Computer Processor Created

Researchers at Yale University have built the first-ever
quantum processor using solid state components, and have run
basic algorithms to prove how it works. Previous efforts have
simulated a quantum processor without using electronic
components.

In their tests, physicists Leonardo DiCarlo and professor
Robert Schoelkopf demonstrated the perfect example of how
quantum computing beats out traditional processing techniques.

It's a "reverse phone number search," where you know the
phone number you want but not the name of the person to call.
Using a qubit -- a quantum bit that can hold multiple digits
-- the processor can examine multiple data sets, such as
numbers in a phone book, and find the one you want.

"Instead of having to place a phone call to one number, then
another number, you use quantum mechanics to speed up the
process," according to Schoelkopf. "It's like being able to
place one phone call that simultaneously tests all four
numbers, but only goes through to the right one."

Not only is the two-qubit quantum processor made from solid
state electronics -- unlike previous demos that used atomic
particles -- but the processor operates for a full
microsecond.

The processor consists of a niobium film and an aluminum
oxide wafer with a current that jumps across a gap on the
substrate material. DiCarlo noted that the material operates
at a hair above absolute zero, so odds are you're not going
to find a quantum processor in your next off-the-shelf
computer.