Diamond microstructures for quantum information technologies

目前在量子信息领域投入了大量的研究工作，其基础是信息可以利用物质的基本量子性质来存储、传输和操纵。量子密码系统将信息的量子比特--也就是众所周知的量子比特--编码成单光子光，现在可以商业化，提供100%安全的数据通信。量子计算，即使用量子力学执行计算，尚未实现实用规模，但提供了能够解决如此复杂的问题的前景，以至于传统计算机永远无法完成这些问题。量子信息设备需要强有力地抑制“嘈杂”过程才能有效工作，因为物质中的量子态非常脆弱，很容易在执行任务之前被摧毁。这可以在实验室中通过在非常低的温度下操作，或者通过隔离光学陷阱中的单个原子来实现，但这种技术在日常设备中并不是很实用。钻石之所以吸引人，是因为它本质上是一种“安静”的材料，即使在室温下也是如此。热振动很少，因为刚性结构意味着激发每一次振动所需的能量很大，自由电子很少(钻石是很好的电绝缘体)，碳核上几乎没有自旋可以波动和干扰量子比特。这些因素结合在一起，使钻石成为制造量子信息设备的极佳材料。然而，有一个缺点/钻石，作为一种如此坚硬的材料，很难加工成我们能够为我们的量子信息技术构建基本元素的设备结构。这项提案旨在为世界钻石材料加工领域的顶尖专家之一、澳大利亚墨尔本大学的史蒂文·普拉沃教授访问英国提供资金。普拉沃教授最近开发了制造微米级钻石结构的方法，使创造新的量子设备成为可能。特别是，他的研究小组可以制造含有故意植入的缺陷的结构，以容纳基于电子的量子比特，并且能够存储光，以便控制电子和光子之间的相互作用，这是许多量子信息设备设计中的关键因素，也是钻石尚未实现的因素。我们建议利用这次访问在这一重要领域进行一些初步实验，并计划进行高级实验，以建立和测试量子计算和量子通信的设备。此次访问还将为英国钻石和量子信息研究界的其他成员提供机会，与普拉沃教授会面，并更多地了解他的新能力。

Much research effort is currently invested in the field of quantum information, based on the idea that information can be stored, transmitted, and manipulated using the fundamental quantum nature of matter. Quantum cryptography systems in which quantum bits of information - or qubits as they are known - are encoded onto single photons of light, are now commercially available, providing 100% secure data communication. Quantum computing, the execution of calculations using quantum mechanics, has yet to be realized on a useful scale, but offers the prospect of being able to solve problems so complex that a conventional computer would never be expected to finish them.Quantum information devices require strong suppression of 'noisy' processes in order to work effectively, since quantum states in matter are very fragile and can easily be destroyed before they have performed their tasks. This is can be achieved in the laboratory by operating at very low temperatures, or by isolating individual atoms in optical trap, but such techniques are not very practical for everyday devices. Diamond is attractive as it is a material that is intrinsically 'quiet', even at room temperature. There are few thermal vibrations, as the rigid structure means that energy needed to excite each vibration is large, there are few free electrons (diamond is a good electrical insulator), and there are few spins on the carbon nuclei that can fluctuate and interfere with the qubits. These factors combine to make diamond an excellent material from which to fashion quantum information devices. However there is a drawback / diamond, being such a hard material, is difficult to process into the device structures that we need to be able to construct the basic elements for our quantum information technology. This proposal seeks funding for a visit to the UK by one of the world's leading experts in diamond materials processing, Professor Steven Prawer of the University of Melbourne, Australia. Professor Prawer has recently developed methods for producing micrometer scale structures of diamond that make possible the creation of novel quantum devices. In particular, his research group can make structures that contain deliberately implanted defects to host electron-based qubits, and that are capable of storing light so as to provide control over the interaction between electrons and photons, a critical factor in many designs for quantum information devices and one that has yet to be achieved in diamond. We propose to use the visit to perform some of the first experiments in this important field, and to plan advanced experiments to build and test devices for quantum computing and quantum communications. The visit will also provide opportunities for other members of the UK diamond and quantum information research community to meet Professor Prawer and learn more about his new capabilities.