Scalable Quantum Logic using Microfabricated Ion Traps: Visiting Researcher Funding

量子计算机是一种根据量子力学定律存储和操作信息的设备，量子力学是描述原子或更小尺度的物理世界的物理理论。如果它能被制造出来，它将比今天普通的经典计算机强大得多，并将彻底改变密码学等领域。它还可以比经典计算机更有效地模拟其他量子系统，最终有助于理解大分子的结构，并影响分子分析和设计等领域。虽然理论上大家都很清楚，但建造这样一台机器的技术挑战是巨大的，而且是在当今技术的极限下。建造量子计算机最先进的技术之一是离子阱，在高真空的静电阱中，单个（带电）原子被用来存储量子信息。这个项目的重点是开发一种方法，将离子阱计算机从目前的技术水平（几个原子）扩展到许多原子。这将通过制造表面电极离子阱（比其他设计更容易缩放以处理大量离子）来实现，其中包括微波传输线。微波将用于实现离子对之间的量子逻辑门，这是操纵量子信息的基本资源。

A quantum computer is a device that stores and manipulates information according to the laws of quantum mechanics, the physical theory that describes the physical world at the scale of atoms and smaller. If it could be built, it would be exponentially more powerful than today's normal classical computers, and would revolutionize fields such as cryptography. It could also simulate other quantum systems much more efficiently than classical computers can, which could ultimately help understand the structure of large molecules and impact areas such as molecular analysis and design. While theoretically well-understood, the technical challenges of building such a machine are enormous, and at the limits of today's technology. One of the most advanced technologies for building a quantum computer are ion traps, where individual (charged) atoms held in electrostatic traps in high vacuum are used to store quantum information. The focus of this project is to develop methods to scale up an ion trap computer from the current state of the art (a few atoms) to many atoms. This will be achieved through the fabrication of a surface electrode ion trap (easier to scale to deal with large numbers of ions than other designs), which includes microwave transmission lines. The microwaves will be used to implement quantum logic gates between pairs of ions, the essential resource for manipulating quantum information.