Desktop photonic quantum computer runs at room temperature

Researchers in Taiwan have developed a desktop quantum computer that runs at room temperature using photonics.

The desktop quantum computer developed at Tsinghua National University uses just one photonic qubit with multiple states, and is the first optical quantum computer developed in Taiwan.

The team, led by Professor Chu Zhisong from the Department of Physics and the Forward-looking Quantum Technology Research Centre, used a ring of fibre with a single photon with 32 modes that can operate at room temperature rather than requiring large cooling systems.

Other photonic quantum computers in development are cooled to 77K, rather than the milliKelvins used by systems using atoms, electron spin or metal loops. Using nitrogen vacancies in diamond has already delivered a room temperature quantum computer by Quantum Brilliance.

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The single photon system can currently be used for mathematical operations such as prime factorization using the multi-dimensional photon. The research was published in Physical Review.

The team’s next goal is to continue to challenge and improve the information storage capacity of a single photon, so that one photon can hold more information to achieve more complex quantum operations.

This can also be combined with silicon photonics for further scaling and integration with classical supercomputers. Using photons at room temperature means the quantum computer can be integrated directly with a quantum network to transfer the photons in a federated architecture.

“This is a big breakthrough, especially for this technology It can be combined with current silicon photonics technology and integrated with classical computers. It has great potential for Taiwan to continue its advantages in semiconductor technology and is an opportunity for Taiwan,” said Mou Zhongyu, Dean of the School of Science at the university.