24/7 Space News
CHIP TECH
Quantum simulator could help uncover materials for high-performance electronics
illustration only
Quantum simulator could help uncover materials for high-performance electronics
by Adam Zewe | MIT News
Boston MA (SPX) Oct 31, 2024

Quantum computers hold the promise to emulate complex materials, helping researchers better understand the physical properties that arise from interacting atoms and electrons. This may one day lead to the discovery or design of better semiconductors, insulators, or superconductors that could be used to make ever faster, more powerful, and more energy-efficient electronics.

But some phenomena that occur in materials can be challenging to mimic using quantum computers, leaving gaps in the problems that scientists have explored with quantum hardware.

To fill one of these gaps, MIT researchers developed a technique to generate synthetic electromagnetic fields on superconducting quantum processors. The team demonstrated the technique on a processor comprising 16 qubits.

By dynamically controlling how the 16 qubits in their processor are coupled to one another, the researchers were able to emulate how electrons move between atoms in the presence of an electromagnetic field. Moreover, the synthetic electromagnetic field is broadly adjustable, enabling scientists to explore a range of material properties.

Emulating electromagnetic fields is crucial to fully explore the properties of materials. In the future, this technique could shed light on key features of electronic systems, such as conductivity, polarization, and magnetization.

"Quantum computers are powerful tools for studying the physics of materials and other quantum mechanical systems. Our work enables us to simulate much more of the rich physics that has captivated materials scientists," says Ilan Rosen, an MIT postdoc and lead author of a paper on the quantum simulator.

The senior author is William D. Oliver, the Henry Ellis Warren professor of electrical engineering and computer science and of physics, director of the Center for Quantum Engineering, leader of the Engineering Quantum Systems group, and associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics. Oliver and Rosen are joined by others in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and of Physics and at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The research appears in Nature Physics.

A quantum emulator
Companies like IBM and Google are striving to build large-scale digital quantum computers that hold the promise of outperforming their classical counterparts by running certain algorithms far more rapidly.

But that's not all quantum computers can do. The dynamics of qubits and their couplings can also be carefully constructed to mimic the behavior of electrons as they move among atoms in solids.

"That leads to an obvious application, which is to use these superconducting quantum computers as emulators of materials," says Jeffrey Grover, a research scientist at MIT and co-author on the paper.

Rather than trying to build large-scale digital quantum computers to solve extremely complex problems, researchers can use the qubits in smaller-scale quantum computers as analog devices to replicate a material system in a controlled environment.

"General-purpose digital quantum simulators hold tremendous promise, but they are still a long way off. Analog emulation is another approach that may yield useful results in the near-term, particularly for studying materials. It is a straightforward and powerful application of quantum hardware," explains Rosen. "Using an analog quantum emulator, I can intentionally set a starting point and then watch what unfolds as a function of time."

Despite their close similarity to materials, there are a few important ingredients in materials that can't be easily reflected on quantum computing hardware. One such ingredient is a magnetic field.

In materials, electrons "live" in atomic orbitals. When two atoms are close to one another, their orbitals overlap and electrons can "hop" from one atom to another. In the presence of a magnetic field, that hopping behavior becomes more complex.

On a superconducting quantum computer, microwave photons hopping between qubits are used to mimic electrons hopping between atoms. But, because photons are not charged particles like electrons, the photons' hopping behavior would remain the same in a physical magnetic field.

Since they can't just turn on a magnetic field in their simulator, the MIT team employed a few tricks to synthesize the effects of one instead.

Tuning up the processor
The researchers adjusted how adjacent qubits in the processor were coupled to each other to create the same complex hopping behavior that electromagnetic fields cause in electrons.

To do that, they slightly changed the energy of each qubit by applying different microwave signals. Usually, researchers will set qubits to the same energy so that photons can hop from one to another. But for this technique, they dynamically varied the energy of each qubit to change how they communicate with each other.

By precisely modulating these energy levels, the researchers enabled photons to hop between qubits in the same complex manner that electrons hop between atoms in a magnetic field.

Plus, because they can finely tune the microwave signals, they can emulate a range of electromagnetic fields with different strengths and distributions.

The researchers undertook several rounds of experiments to determine what energy to set for each qubit, how strongly to modulate them, and the microwave frequency to use.

"The most challenging part was finding modulation settings for each qubit so that all 16 qubits work at once," Rosen says.

Once they arrived at the right settings, they confirmed that the dynamics of the photons uphold several equations that form the foundation of electromagnetism. They also demonstrated the "Hall effect," a conduction phenomenon that exists in the presence of an electromagnetic field.

These results show that their synthetic electromagnetic field behaves like the real thing.

Moving forward, they could use this technique to precisely study complex phenomena in condensed matter physics, such as phase transitions that occur when a material changes from a conductor to an insulator.

"A nice feature of our emulator is that we need only change the modulation amplitude or frequency to mimic a different material system. In this way, we can scan over many materials properties or model parameters without having to physically fabricate a new device each time." says Oliver.

While this work was an initial demonstration of a synthetic electromagnetic field, it opens the door to many potential discoveries, Rosen says.

"The beauty of quantum computers is that we can look at exactly what is happening at every moment in time on every qubit, so we have all this information at our disposal. We are in a very exciting place for the future," he adds.

Research Report:A synthetic magnetic vector potential in a 2D superconducting qubit array

Related Links
Center for Quantum Engineering
Computer Chip Architecture, Technology and Manufacture
Nano Technology News From SpaceMart.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
CHIP TECH
New magnetism insights aim to advance quantum computing and superconductors
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 31, 2024
A research team from Rice University, led by physicists Zheng Ren and Ming Yi, has uncovered a fresh understanding of magnetism and electron interactions that could significantly impact quantum computing and high-temperature superconductor technologies. Their work on iron-tin (FeSn) thin films challenges previous assumptions in the field, suggesting that localized electrons, rather than mobile ones, drive the magnetic properties in kagome magnets - a unique class of materials inspired by a traditional b ... read more

CHIP TECH
NASA to restart Mentor-Protege program to help improve contractor diversity

Samsonite's Proxis Suitcase reaches new heights with space launch

Astronauts return to Earth after seven months of research on ISS

NASA astronaut released from hospital after return from ISS

CHIP TECH
SpaceX pushes back launch of 20 Starlink satellites in late scrub

Kremlin denies report of Musk-Putin secret talks

SpaceX sends 22 Starlink satellites into orbit in record-setting launch

NASA Administrator says Musk, Putin contacts 'concerning' as Kremlin denies WSJ report

CHIP TECH
Perseverance surveys its path as it ascends Jezero Crater

Red Rocks with Green Spots at 'Serpentine Rapids'

NASA selects crew for 45-day simulated Mars mission in Houston

Potential microbial habitats in Martian ice

CHIP TECH
China's only woman spaceflight engineer in crew for 'dream' mission

China delivers scientific payloads from reusable satellite Shijian-19 to users

China to launch 14th manned mission to Tiangong Space Station

China sets ambitious space science development goals through 2050

CHIP TECH
Hawkeye 360 enhances global monitoring with Clusters 9 and 10 now in opeation

Boeing exploring sale of space business: report

Space industry growth and Japan's role in satellite development

Eutelsat America and OneWeb to provide Enhanced Satellite Services for US Govt

CHIP TECH
New doubt over production cuts in plastic pollution treaty

Amazon results beat expectations, powered by cloud

New 3D printed metal alloy enhances durability for space exploration

Seeking our future in the deep past

CHIP TECH
Microbes thrive on iron in oxygen-free environments

SwRI and JPL study reveals liquid brine flows on airless worlds

It's twins mystery of famed brown dwarf solved

Astronomers Use New Technique to Search for Alien Signals Between Planets

CHIP TECH
NASA and SpaceX Set for Europa Clipper Launch on October 14

NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon

Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate

NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.