The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced on April 3rd that scientists from their Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and the University of Maryland have demonstrated the possibility of storing a visual image in a vapor cloud comprised of rubidium atoms. This is expected to be a possible first step in the process to eventually develop memory for quantum computers.
According to the report, the scientists based their work on previous research done at the Australian National Univeristy. Scientists there found that using lasers and magnetic fields allowed them to make changes to the rubidium field in different ways. The vapor was magnetized in a small tube and had a varying light frequency laser fired into it. Depending on what frequency impacted the vapor atoms, the energy level would change, leaving a unique characteristic pattern behind. That pattern could then be revealed by reversing the orientation of the field and then firing a second pulse through it.
Paul Lett, a physicist with the JQI at the NIST's Quantum Measurement Division said of the test:
"With our paper, we've taken this same idea and applied it to storing an image—basically moving up from storing a single 'pixel' of light information to about a hundred. By modifying their technique, we have been able to store a simple image in the vapor and extract pieces of it at different times."
At the moment, the data can only be stored for about 10 milliseconds due to the constant motion of the vapors, but the point of the test wasn't to try to make something immediately market ready. Rather, it was to try to learn how to create a memory that can eventually be utilized in next generation quantum computers.
Lett added:
"What we've done here is store an image using classical physics. However, the ultimate goal is to store quantum information, which a quantum computer will need. Measuring what the rubidium atoms do as we manipulate them is teaching us how we might use them as quantum bits and what problems those bits might present. This way, when someone builds a solid-state system for a finished computer, we'll know how to handle them more effectively."
Comments