Australian Quantum Brilliance to Develop the World’s First Mobile Quantum Computer by 2027

Quantum Brilliance and ParityQC Join Forces to Develop the World’s First Mobile Quantum Computer by 2027

Highlights:

• Quantum Brilliance and ParityQC awarded a €35 million contract to create the first mobile quantum computer.
• The project, funded by Cyberagentur, aims to revolutionize defense, security, and civilian applications.
• Quantum Brilliance’s expertise in miniaturized quantum chips and ParityQC’s scalable architecture are key to the innovation.
• The mobile quantum computer promises quantum-speed simulations in the field, enhancing cybersecurity and national defense.
• The project strengthens Germany’s leadership in cutting-edge quantum technology.

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A Breakthrough Partnership for Quantum Innovation

Quantum Brilliance, a leading developer of miniaturized, room-temperature quantum computing products, and ParityQC, the only quantum architecture company in the world, have been awarded a prestigious contract by the German cybersecurity agency, Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH. This contract, valued at €35 million, aims to create the world’s first mobile quantum computer by 2027, marking a significant leap forward in the field of quantum technology.

The partnership between Quantum Brilliance and ParityQC was one of three bids selected for the largest research project ever funded by the Cyberagentur. The primary goal is to develop a quantum computer that can be deployed for defense, security, and civilian use, ensuring Germany remains at the cutting edge of technological innovation.

Pioneers in Quantum Technology

Quantum Brilliance and ParityQC bring complementary expertise to this project. Quantum Brilliance is renowned for its miniaturization of quantum chips that operate at room temperature, utilizing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in synthetic diamonds as qubits. These chips are highly energy-efficient and compatible with traditional semiconductor systems, offering precise qubit positioning and electrical readout.

On the other hand, ParityQC specializes in quantum architecture, designing an operating system for scalable NV-center quantum computers. Their approach is essential to making the mobile quantum computer a reality, providing the ability to process complex algorithms quickly and with reduced error rates.

The Impact of Mobile Quantum Computing

The development of a mobile quantum computer has profound implications for multiple industries, particularly in defense and cybersecurity. With the ability to perform highly complex simulations at quantum speeds, these systems can be deployed directly in the field rather than relying on data centers or cloud access. This opens up new possibilities for secure, real-time computing in remote environments.

According to Mark Luo, co-founder and CEO of Quantum Brilliance, “The potential of a mobile quantum computer is enormous for defense and cybersecurity in Germany and allied nations, and we believe our technology is the perfect fit for fulfilling the goals of this project.”

In defense scenarios, a mobile quantum computer could optimize troop movements, analyze battlefield conditions, and simulate the behavior of chemical or biological agents in real time. These advancements will revolutionize decision-making and situational awareness in critical operations.

A Game-Changing Technological Leap

Mobile quantum technology will enhance not only defense and national security but also other sectors, such as scientific research, supply chain management, and finance. Mark Mattingley-Scott, Chief Revenue Officer and EMEA General Manager at Quantum Brilliance, highlighted the broader applications: “The technology will enable powerful computations in environments not possible with classical computers, benefiting multiple industries beyond defense.”

Recognition from Cyberagentur and Industry Event

The Cyberagentur’s €35 million project signals a major endorsement of the collaborative efforts between Quantum Brilliance and ParityQC. As part of the ongoing initiative, the Cyberagentur hosted an onsite event to showcase the winning bids, where representatives from both companies discussed their innovative approaches.

Wolfgang Lechner and Magdalena Hauser, Co-CEOs of ParityQC, emphasized the critical role of their partnership: “We believe that working with Quantum Brilliance positions us to develop the world’s first mobile quantum computer. Our architecture will be crucial to achieving this, offering the scalability and flexibility needed for real-world deployment.”

About ParityQC and Quantum Brilliance

ParityQC, headquartered in Austria, is a pioneer in quantum architecture, developing blueprints and operating systems for highly scalable quantum computers. Their innovations address complex optimization problems and push the boundaries of error-corrected quantum computing.

Quantum Brilliance, founded in 2019, is an Australian-German quantum computing hardware company that specializes in diamond quantum accelerators. With a vision to enable mass deployment of quantum accelerators, Quantum Brilliance works across various industries and research centers globally, helping drive quantum edge computing applications and next-generation supercomputing.

Source: Quantum Brilliance and ParityQC to Build World’s First Mobile Quantum Computer by 2027 — Quantum Brilliance

Quantum Brilliance CEO Discusses the Future of Quantum Computing with Synthetic Diamonds

 Quantum Brilliance CEO Discusses the Future of Quantum Computing with Synthetic Diamonds

Highlights:

• Quantum Brilliance leads in quantum computing innovation using synthetic diamonds.
• The company’s rapid growth stems from its spin-out from the Australian National University (ANU).
• Quantum Brilliance’s technology offers miniaturized, energy-efficient quantum computers.
• Quantum at the edge promises to revolutionize industries like healthcare, defense, and AI.
• Partnerships with global leaders, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are paving the way for groundbreaking advancements.

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Pioneering Quantum Computing with Synthetic Diamonds

Quantum Brilliance, led by CEO Mark Luo, is making waves in the world of quantum computing by leveraging synthetic diamonds to create miniaturized, energy-efficient quantum computers. Unlike conventional quantum computers that require massive cooling systems, Quantum Brilliance’s diamond-based quantum computers operate at room temperature, making them more adaptable to various environments, from satellites to submarines.

Mark Luo explained in an interview, "We're using synthetic diamond as the material to maintain quantum bits without needing large fridges or high-power lasers. This approach allows for quantum systems to be deployed anywhere, normalizing quantum technology for everyday applications."

A Rapidly Growing Company with Australian Roots

Quantum Brilliance's journey began as a spin-out from the Australian National University (ANU), a global leader in diamond quantum technology. Since its inception in 2020, the company has experienced rapid growth, boasting a global workforce of 85 staff across three countries. According to Luo, this success is largely thanks to Australia’s robust research infrastructure.

“We've signed about $50 million in contracts across industries such as supercomputing, defense, and aerospace. This wouldn't have been possible without Australia's support from institutions like ANU, La Trobe, and RMIT,” Luo added.

Transforming Quantum Computing at the Edge

Quantum Brilliance’s approach is revolutionizing the concept of quantum computing at the edge, a technology that could dramatically enhance industries by enabling faster, more accurate processing closer to the data source. This could range from healthcare diagnostics to driverless systems.

Mark Luo explained the potential: "Quantum technology could enable more sophisticated processing, even at the edge, transforming industrial robotics, satellites, and autonomous vehicles by enhancing their decision-making capabilities in real-time."

A Commercially Viable Quantum Future

Quantum Brilliance's innovations offer distinct commercial advantages, with projections estimating the quantum computing market could reach $100 billion, with edge applications constituting half of that. Additionally, quantum sensing, another area of focus, is expected to be a $10 billion market.

Luo gave a concrete example: “Imagine every electric vehicle being equipped with a quantum sensor for better battery management. With millions of EVs set to be sold by the decade’s end, the potential for quantum sensing at the edge is enormous.”

Collaborating with Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Quantum Brilliance is actively working with global leaders, including a key partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, to advance quantum computing applications. This collaboration aims to deploy the first on-premise quantum computer cluster, helping to explore the possibilities of quantum computation.

Luo shared his excitement: "Having a physical quantum computer on-premise allows us to engage with real applications. The discoveries we make here will shape the future of quantum technology."

Supporting Australia's Semiconductor Industry

Quantum Brilliance is also a strong advocate for Australia’s semiconductor industry. The company is a major supporter of the Semiconductor Australia 2024 conference, working alongside organizations like S3B to uplift Australia’s role in the global semiconductor value chain. As the semiconductor market is poised to hit $1 trillion by the end of the decade, Australia has an opportunity to take a share of this massive industry.

Luo emphasized, “Australia has world-class semiconductor engineers, and by connecting with global leaders in quantum technology, we can carve out a competitive advantage in this fast-growing market.”

Source: Quantum computers and diamonds | Finance News Network (finnewsnetwork.com.au)

UNSW Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons Wins 2023 Prime Minister's Prize for Science for Quantum Computing Breakthroughs

UNSW Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons Wins 2023 Prime Minister's Prize for Science for Quantum Computing Breakthroughs

UNSW Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons has been awarded the 2023 Prime Minister's Prize for Science for her achievements in creating the field of atomic electronics, with a mission to create the world's first error-corrected quantum computer in Australia.

UNSW Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons Wins 2023 Prime Minister's Prize for Science for Quantum Computing Breakthroughs

Her discoveries have the potential to impact almost every industry that is dependent on data, such as revolutionising therapeutic drug design, optimising route planning for delivery or logistical systems thereby reducing fuel costs and delivery times, and creating better fertilisers for agriculture.

Prof. Simmons is an ARC Laureate Fellow and former 2018 Australian of the Year. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the American Academy of Arts and Science, the American Association of the Advancement of Science, the UK Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society, the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, and the Australian Academy of Science.

The Prime Minister's Prizes for Science are Australia's most prestigious awards for outstanding achievements in scientific research, research-based innovation and excellence in science teaching.

Read more about this blog post in Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science.

Australian researchers confirm the promise of silicon for quantum computing.

Australian researchers confirm the promise of silicon for quantum computing.

Australian researchers have measured the fidelity of two-qubit logic operations in silicon for the first time ever, with highly promising results that will allow a full-scale quantum processor to be scaled.

The research, conducted by the UNSW Engineering team of Professor Andrew Dzurak, has been published in the world-renowned journalNature today. The true accuracy of such a two-qubit gate was unknown until this landmark paper today.

Australian researchers confirm the promise of silicon for quantum computing.

Dzurak's team was the first to construct a quantum logic gate in silicon in 2015, enabling calculations between two qubits of information – and thus clearing up a crucial hurdle to make silicon quantum computers a reality.

Important accuracy for success of quantum computing

In this study, the team applied and conducted Clifford-based fidelity benchmarking-a technique that can assess qubit accuracy across all technology platforms-showing an average fidelity of 98 percent to two-qubit gates.

“Most of important Quantum applications, millions of qubits will be needed, and you're going to have to correct quantum errors, even when they’re small,” Professor Dzurak says.

“The more accurate your qubits, the fewer you need – and therefore, the sooner we can ramp up the engineering and manufacturing to realise a full-scale quantum computer.”

Concrete path to silicon in quantum computing

“If our fidelity value had been too low, it would have meant serious problems for the future of silicon quantum computing. The fact that it is near 99% puts it in the ballpark we need, and there are excellent prospects for further improvement. Our results immediately show, as we predicted, that silicon is a viable platform for full-scale quantum computing,” Professor Dzurak says.

Recently published in Nature Electronics and featured on its cover – where Dr. Yang is the lead author, the same team also recorded the world's most accurate 1-qubit gate in a silicon quantum dot with a remarkable 99.96 percent fidelity.

“Besides the natural advantages of silicon qubits, one key reason we’ve been able to achieve such impressive results is because of the fantastic team we have here at UNSW. My student Wister and Dr Yang are both incredibly talented. They personally conceived the complex protocols required for this benchmarking experiment,” says Professor Dzurak.

UNSW Dean of Engineering, Professor Mark Hoffman, says “Quantum computing is this century’s space race – and Sydney is leading the charge.”

“This milestone is another step towards realising a large-scale quantum computer – and it reinforces the fact that silicon is an extremely attractive approach that we believe will get UNSW there first.”

Professor Dzurak is leading a project with Silicon QuantumComputing, Australia's first quantum computing company, to advance silicon CMOS qubit technology.

“Our latest result brings us closer to commercialising this technology – my group is all about building a quantum chip that can be used for real-world applications,” Professor Dzurak says.

The silicon qubit device used in this study was manufactured entirely at UNSW using a unique silicon-CMOS process line, high-resolution patterning systems, and supporting equipment made available by ANFF-NSW for nanofabrication.

For more information in detail:  Quantum world-first: researchers can now tellhow accurate two-qubit calculations in silicon really are

Australian Researchers Unveil First Complete Silicon Quantum ComputerProcessor

Australian Researchers Unveil First Complete Silicon Quantum Computer Processor

UNSW
16 DEC 2017

A reimagining of today’s computer chips by UNSW engineers shows how a quantum computer can be manufactured – using mostly standard silicon technology.

A reimagining of today’s computer chips by Australian and Dutch engineers shows how a quantum computer can be manufactured – using mostly standard silicon technology.

Australian Researchers Unveil First Complete Silicon Quantum Computer Processor

Research teams all over the world are exploring different ways to design a working computing chip that can integrate quantum interactions. Now, UNSW engineers believe they have cracked the problem, reimagining the silicon microprocessors we know to create a complete design for a quantum computer chip that can be manufactured using mostly standard industry processes and components.

The new chip design, published in the journal Nature Communications, details a novel architecture that allows quantum calculations to be performed using existing semiconductor components, known as CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) – the basis for all modern chips.

It was devised by Andrew Dzurak, director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and Menno Veldhorst, lead author of the paper who was a research fellow at UNSW when the conceptual work was done.

“We often think of landing on the Moon as humanity’s greatest technological marvel,” said Dzurak, who is also a Program Leader at Australia’s famed Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T). “But creating a microprocessor chip with a billion operating devices integrated together to work like a symphony – that you can carry in your pocket! – is an astounding technical achievement, and one that’s revolutionised modern life.

“With quantum computing, we are on the verge of another technological leap that could be as deep and transformative. But a complete engineering design to realise this on a single chip has been elusive. I think what we have developed at UNSW now makes that possible. And most importantly, it can be made in a modern semiconductor manufacturing plant,” he added.

Veldhorst, now a team leader in quantum technology at QuTech – a collaboration between Delft University of Technology and TNO, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research – said the power of the new design is that, for the first time, it charts a conceivable engineering pathway toward creating millions of quantum bits, or qubits.

“Remarkable as they are, today’s computer chips cannot harness the quantum effects needed to solve the really important problems that quantum computers will. To solve problems that address major global challenges – like climate change or complex diseases like cancer – it’s generally accepted we will need millions of qubits working in tandem. To do that, we will need to pack qubits together and integrate them, like we do with modern microprocessor chips. That’s what this new design aims to achieve.

“Our design incorporates conventional silicon transistor switches to ‘turn on’ operations between qubits in a vast two-dimensional array, using a grid-based ‘word’ and ‘bit’ select protocol similar to that used to select bits in a conventional computer memory chip,” he added. “By selecting electrodes above a qubit, we can control a qubit’s spin, which stores the quantum binary code of a 0 or 1. And by selecting electrodes between the qubits, two-qubit logic interactions, or calculations, can be performed between qubits.”

A quantum computer exponentially expands the vocabulary of binary code used in modern computers by using two spooky principles of quantum physics – namely, ‘entanglement’ and ‘superposition’. Qubits can store a 0, a 1, or an arbitrary combination of 0 and 1 at the same time. And just as a quantum computer can store multiple values at once, so it can process them simultaneously, doing multiple operations at once.

This would allow a universal quantum computer to be millions of times faster than any conventional computer when solving a range of important problems.

There are at least five major quantum computing approaches being explored worldwide: silicon spin qubits, ion traps, superconducting loops, diamond vacancies and topological qubits; UNSW’s design is based on silicon spin qubits. The main problem with all of these approaches is that there is no clear pathway to scaling the number of quantum bits up to the millions needed without the computer becoming huge a system requiring bulky supporting equipment and costly infrastructure.

That’s why UNSW’s new design is so exciting: relying on its silicon spin qubit approach – which already mimics much of the solid-state devices in silicon that are the heart of the US$380 billion global semiconductor industry – it shows how to dovetail spin qubit error correcting code into existing chip designs, enabling true universal quantum computation.

Unlike almost every other major group elsewhere, CQC2T’s quantum computing effort is obsessively focused on creating solid-state devices in silicon, from which all of the world’s computer chips are made. And they’re not just creating ornate designs to show off how many qubits can be packed together, but aiming to build qubits that could one day be easily fabricated – and scaled up.

“It’s kind of swept under the carpet a bit, but for large-scale quantum computing, we are going to need millions of qubits,” said Dzurak. “Here, we show a way that spin qubits can be scaled up massively. And that’s the key.”

The design is a leap forward in silicon spin qubits; it was only two years ago, in a paper in Nature, that Dzurak and Veldhorst showed, for the first time, how quantum logic calculations could be done in a real silicon device, with the creation of a two-qubit logic gate – the central building block of a quantum computer.

“Those were the first baby steps, the first demonstrations of how to turn this radical quantum computing concept into a practical device using components that underpin all modern computing,” said Mark Hoffman, UNSW’s Dean of Engineering. “Our team now has a blueprint for scaling that up dramatically.

“We’ve been testing elements of this design in the lab, with very positive results. We just need to keep building on that – which is still a hell of a challenge, but the groundwork is there, and it’s very encouraging. It will still take great engineering to bring quantum computing to commercial reality, but clearly the work we see from this extraordinary team at CQC2T puts Australia in the driver’s seat,” he added.

Other CQC2T researchers involved in the design published in the Nature Communications paper were Henry Yang and Gertjan Eenink, the latter of whom has since joined Veldhorst at QuTech.

The UNSW team has struck a A$83 million deal between UNSW, Telstra, Commonwealth Bank and the Australian and New South Wales governments to develop, by 2022, a 10-qubit prototype silicon quantum integrated circuit – the first step in building the world’s first quantum computer in silicon.

In August, the partners launched Silicon Quantum Computing Pty Ltd, Australia’s first quantum computing company, to advance the development and commercialisation of the team’s unique technologies. The NSW Government pledged A$8.7 million, UNSW A$25 million, the Commonwealth Bank A$14 million, Telstra A$10 million and the Australian Government A$25 million.

Source : Complete Design of a Silicon Quantum Qomputer Chip Unveiled

VIDEO, STILLS AND BACKGROUND AVAILABLE

• STILLS: Pictures of Dzurak and Veldhorst, plus illustrations of the complete quantum computer chip. (Photos: Grant Turner/UNSW, Illustrations: Tony Melov/UNSW)


• BACKGROUNDERS: How UNSW’s ‘silicon spin qubit’ design compares with other approaches; plus a free 3,000-word feature article on the UNSW effort (Creative Commons).


• SCIENTIFIC PAPER: Original paper in Nature Communications, “Silicon CMOS architecture for a spin-based quantum computer”.

Australian Prime Minister Hails UNSW's Quantum Computing Research as the World's Best

Opening: Prime Minister hails UNSW's quantum computing research as the world's best

UNSW
Friday, 22 April, 2016

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, accompanied by the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Christopher Pyne, today opened a new quantum computing laboratory complex at UNSW

[caption id="attachment_802" align="aligncenter" width="5760"] Australian Prime Minister Hails UNSW's Quantum Computing Research as the World's Best[/caption]

"There is no bolder idea than quantum computing," said Prime Minister Turnbull, hailing UNSW's research in the transformative technology as the “best work in the world".

He praised the leadership of Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons, director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T) and congratulated the centre's team on their research breakthroughs.

"You're not just doing great work, Michelle, you're doing the best work in the world.

"You're not just solving the computing challenges and determining the direction of computing for Australia, you are leading the world and it is a tribute to your leadership, your talent ... that you've attracted so many outstanding scientists and engineers from around the world,” Mr Turnbull said.

"This is a very global team and it's right here at the University of New South Wales.”

The laboratories will double the productive capacity of the UNSW headquarters of the CQC2T.

They will also be used to advance development work to commercialise UNSW’s ground-breaking quantum computing research and establish Australia as an international leader in the industries of the future. The work has attracted major investment from the Australian Government, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Telstra.

CQC2T is leading the international race to build the world’s first quantum computer in silicon.

The new laboratories, which have been funded by UNSW, will house six new scanning tunnelling microscopes, which can be used to manipulate individual atoms, as well as six cryogenic dilution refrigerators that can reach ultra-low temperatures close to absolute zero.

“The international race to build a super-powerful quantum computer has been described as the space race of the computing era,” said Professor Michelle Simmons.

“Our Australian centre’s unique approach using silicon has given us a two to three-year lead over the rest of the world. These facilities will enable us to stay ahead of the competition.”

The new labs will also be essential for UNSW researchers to capitalise on the commercial implications of their work.

In December 2015, as part of its National Innovation and Science Agenda, the Australian Government committed $26 million towards a projected $100 million investment to support the commercial development of UNSW’s research to develop a quantum computer in silicon.

Following the Australian Government’s announcement of support, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Telstra each pledged $10 million for the development of a ten-qubit prototype. This prototype will be partly designed and built in the new facility.

“In addition to our fundamental research agenda, we now have an ambitious and targeted program to build a ten-qubit prototype quantum integrated circuit within five years,” said Professor Simmons. “By mapping the evolution of classical computing devices over the last century we would expect commercial quantum computing devices to appear within 5-10 years of that milestone.”

It is a prospect strongly endorsed by UNSW President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Jacobs.

“UNSW is committed to supporting world-leading research, and quantum computing is a key part of our future strategy. We are excited by the opportunities these new laboratories provide us to work jointly with industry and government.

“Our hope, long term, is that this will one day establish Australia as an international leader in one of the key industries of the future,” Professor Jacobs said.

Commonwealth Bank Chief Information Officer David Whiteing said: “Commonwealth Bank is proud to support the University of New South Wales' world-leading quantum computing research team and join the Australian Government in providing tangible support for their National Innovation and Science Agenda.

“In today’s world everyone relies increasingly on computers from those in the palm of our hand to the computers on our desk. Quantum computing is set to increase the speed and power of computing beyond what we can currently imagine. This is still some time in the future, but the time for investment is now. This type of long-term investment is a great example of how collaboration between universities, governments and industry will benefit the nation and our economy, now and into the future.”

Kate McKenzie, Telstra Chief Operations Officer, said that the opening of the new CQC2T laboratories was a significant milestone for science and innovation in Australia.

“In December 2015 we announced our proposed $10 million investment to help with development of silicon quantum computing technology in Australia with CQC2T. It’s an important part of Telstra’s commitment to help build a world class technology nation,” Ms McKenzie said.

“Quantum computing has huge potential globally, so I’m delighted to be here today to see this dynamic, world-leading program.”

Researchers at CQC2T lead the world in the engineering and control of individual atoms in silicon chips

The UNSW-based ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology is leading the global race to build the world’s first quantum computer in silicon.

In 2012, a team led by Professor Simmons, of the Faculty of Science, created the world’s first single‑atom transistor by placing a single phosphorus atom into a silicon crystal with atomic precision, achieving a technological milestone ten years ahead of industry predictions. Her team also produced the narrowest conducting wires ever made in silicon, just four atoms of phosphorus wide and one atom high.

In 2012, researchers led by Professor Andrea Morello, of the Faculty of Engineering, created the world’s first qubit based on the spin of a single electron on a single phosphorus atom embedded in silicon.

In 2014, his group then went on demonstrate that these qubits could be engineered to have the longest coherence times (greater than 30 seconds) and highest fidelities (>99.99%) in the solid state.

In 2013, Scientia Professor Sven Rogge, of the Faculty of Science, demonstrated the ability to optically address a single atom, a method that could allow the long-distance coupling of qubits.

And in 2015, researchers led by Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, of the Faculty of Engineering, built the first quantum logic gate in silicon – a device that makes calculations between two qubits of information possible. This clears one of the critical hurdles to making silicon-based quantum computers a reality.

More Information Links:

Backgrounder: Quantum computing at UNSW and timeline of major scientific and engineering advances

Backgrounder: New quantum computing laboratories at UNSW

News Release Source : Opening: Prime Minister hails UNSW's quantum computing research as the world's best

Image Credit : UNSW

Australian Researchers Advance Towards Silicon Based Quantum Computer

Atoms placed precisely in silicon can act as quantum simulator

UNSW
22 APR 2016

Coinciding with the opening of a new quantum computing laboratory at UNSW by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, UNSW researchers have made another advance towards the development of a silicon-based quantum computer.

[caption id="attachment_792" align="aligncenter" width="562"]                                       Australian Researchers Advance Towards                          Silicon Based Quantum Computer[/caption]

Coinciding with the opening of a new quantum computing laboratory at UNSW by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, UNSW researchers have made another advance towards the development of a silicon-based quantum computer.

In a proof-of-principle experiment, they have demonstrated that a small group of individual atoms placed very precisely in silicon can act as a quantum simulator, mimicking nature – in this case, the weird quantum interactions of electrons in materials.


“Previously this kind of exact quantum simulation could not be performed without interference from the environment, which typically destroys the quantum state,” says senior author Professor Sven Rogge, Head of the UNSW School of Physics and program manager with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T).

“Our success provides a route to developing new ways to test fundamental aspects of quantum physics and to design new, exotic materials – problems that would be impossible to solve even using today’s fastest supercomputers.”

The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. The lead author was UNSW’s Dr Joe Salfi and the team included CQC2T director Professor Michelle Simmons, other CQC2T researchers from UNSW and the University of Melbourne, as well as researchers from Purdue University in the US.


Two dopant atoms of boron only a few nanometres from each other in a silicon crystal were studied. They behaved like valence bonds, the “glue” that holds matter together when atoms with unpaired electrons in their outer orbitals overlap and bond.

The team’s major advance was in being able to directly measure the electron “clouds” around the atoms and the energy of the interactions of the spin, or tiny magnetic orientation, of these electrons.

They were also able to correlate the interference patterns from the electrons, due to their wave-like nature, with their entanglement, or mutual dependence on each other for their properties.

“The behaviour of the electrons in the silicon chip matched the behaviour of electrons described in one of the most important theoretical models of materials that scientists rely on, called the Hubbard model,” says Dr Salfi.

“This model describes the unusual interactions of electrons due to their wave-like properties and spins. And one of its main applications is to understand how electrons in a grid flow without resistance, even though they repel each other,” he says.

The team also made a counterintuitive find – that the entanglement of the electrons in the silicon chip increased the further they were apart.

“This demonstrates a weird behaviour that is typical of quantum systems,” says Professor Rogge.

“Our normal expectation is that increasing the distance between two objects will make them less, not more, dependent on each other.

“By making a larger set of dopant atoms in a grid in a silicon chip we could realise a vision first proposed in the 1980s by the physicist Richard Feynman of a quantum system that can simulate nature and help us understand it better,” he says.

Australian Quantum Research in Global "Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2015"

UNSW quantum research in global ‘Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2015'

14 DEC 2015

UNSW, Sydney

Physics World, the magazine of the UK’s Institute of Physics, has named an advance in quantum computing by engineers at UNSW among its global “Top Ten Breakthroughs of 2015”.

Physics World, the magazine of the UK’s Institute of Physics, has named an advance by engineers at UNSW Australia among its global “Top Ten Breakthroughs of 2015”.

[caption id="attachment_717" align="aligncenter" width="563"]    Australian Quantum Research in Global "Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2015"[/caption]

The research, in which a team of Australian engineers built a quantum logic gate in silicon for the first time, potentially clears the final hurdle to making silicon quantum computers a reality. Led by Andrew Dzurak, a Scientia Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW, it appeared in October this year in the international journal Nature.

The Top Ten is chosen by a panel of editors and reporters of Physics World, one of the world's leading physics magazines. Research must be “fundamentally important, a significant advance in knowledge and show a strong connection between theory and experiment”, the magazine said.

It is a recognition that building a quantum logic gate in silicon is a crucial advance for quantum computing – one of the many our centre at UNSW has made recently.

Dzurak, who is also Director of the NSW node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, which makes nanofabrication of precision components for quantum research possible, welcomed the recognition for his team which forms part of the UNSW-based Australian Research Council Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T).

“It is a recognition that building a quantum logic gate in silicon is a crucial advance for quantum computing – one of the many our centre at UNSW has made recently,” said Dzurak. “This has been recognised by the Australian government and our industry partners, who this week committed another $46 million in additional funding for our quest to make quantum computers a reality.”

On Tuesday, Telstra announced an in-principle commitment of $10 million plus in-kind support over the next five years to CQC2T – the same day that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia also pledgedanother $10 million, on top of its $5 million investment in December 2014.

Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons, who heads CQC2T with 180 researchers, said the investments sent a “very powerful message about supporting internationally leading Australian research in areas of breakthrough technology.

“It has been an amazing week for the silicon quantum computing teams at UNSW and the University of Melbourne,” Simmons said. “We are thrilled that leading Australian companies such as the Commonwealth Bank and Telstra are getting behind our world-leading research. It is clear recognition of the fantastic work at our centre over the past decade, and we hope this investment will form the basis of new industries here in Australia.”

Dr Menno Veldhorst, a UNSW Research Fellow and the lead author of the Nature paper, was equally delighted. “We’ve shown that a two-qubit logic gate – the central building block of a quantum computer – can be made in silicon, which we thought was a big deal. It’s nice to see that this has been recognised by our peers, and attracted industry attention.

“Because we use largely the same device technology as existing computer chips, we believe what we have made will be much easier to make into a full-scale processor chip than for any of the leading designs, which mostly rely on exotic elements and technologies. This makes building a quantum computer much more feasible, since it is based on the same manufacturing technology as today’s computer industry,” he added.

Dzurak noted that the team had recently “patented a design for a full-scale quantum computer chip that would allow for millions of our qubits, all doing the types of calculations that we’ve just experimentally demonstrated”.

The advance represents the final physical component needed to realise the promise of super-powerful silicon quantum computers, which harness the science of the very small – the strange behaviour of subatomic particles – to solve computing challenges that are beyond the reach of even today’s fastest supercomputers.

In classical computers, data is rendered as binary bits, which are always in one of two states: 0 or 1. However, a quantum bit (or ‘qubit’) can exist in both of these states at once, a condition known as a superposition. A qubit operation exploits this quantum weirdness by allowing many computations to be performed in parallel (a two-qubit system performs the operation on 4 values, a three-qubit system on 8, and so on).

“If quantum computers are to become a reality, the ability to conduct one- and two-qubit calculations are essential,” said Dzurak, who jointly led the team that in 2012 who demonstrated the first ever silicon qubit, also reported in Nature.

Until now, it had not been possible to make two quantum bits ‘talk’ to each other – and thereby create a logic gate – using silicon. “The silicon chip in your smartphone or tablet already has around one billion transistors on it, with each transistor less than 100 billionths of a metre in size,” said Veldhorst.

“We’ve morphed those silicon transistors into quantum bits by ensuring that each has only one electron associated with it. We then store the binary code of 0 or 1 on the ‘spin’ of the electron, which is associated with the electron’s tiny magnetic field,” he added.

Building a full-scale quantum processor would have major applications in the finance, security and healthcare sectors, allowing the identification and development of new medicines by greatly accelerating the computer-aided design of pharmaceutical compounds (and minimising lengthy trial and error testing); the development of new, lighter and stronger materials spanning consumer electronics to aircraft; and faster searching of massive databases.

Other researchers involved in the ‘top 10’ Nature paper include Professor Kohei M. Itoh of Japan’s Keio University – who provided specialised silicon wafers for the project – along with UNSW’s School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications Dr Henry Yang and Professor Andrea Morello, who leads the quantum spin control research team at CQC2T.

In November, Morello’s team proved – with the highest score ever obtained – that a quantum version of computer code can be written, and manipulated, using two quantum bits in a silicon microchip. This removes lingering doubts that such operations can be made reliably enough to allow powerful quantum computers to become a reality.

Only a month earlier, a team led by Simmons and CQC2T’s deputy director, Professor Lloyd Hollenbergof the University of Melbourne designed a 3D silicon chip architecture based on single atom quantum bits, compatible with atomic-scale fabrication techniques – providing a blueprint to build a large-scale quantum computer.

The full Physics World list of Top Ten Breakthroughs of 2015 can be found here.

News Release Source : UNSW quantum research in global ‘Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2015'

Image Credit : UNSW

UNSW to Receive AU$10m from Telstra for Quantum Computing

Telstra matches $10m CBA pledge for quantum computing race

08 DEC 2015

UNSW, Sydney

UNSW’s flagship quantum computing project has received a second major injection of funds from Australia’s corporate sector, with Telstra matching a Commonwealth Bank pledge of $10 million.

UNSW’s flagship quantum computing project has received a second major injection of funds from Australia’s corporate sector, with Telstra matching a Commonwealth Bank pledge of $10 million.

[caption id="attachment_713" align="aligncenter" width="563"]         UNSW to Receive AU$10m from Telstra for Quantum Computing[/caption]

Telstra announced an in-principle commitment of $10 million plus in-kind support over the next five years to the UNSW-based Australian Research Council Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, led by Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons.

It follows a similar $10 million pledge from the Commonwealth Bank earlier today after the federal government promised $26 million to the Centre as part of its $1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda unveiled this week.

Telstra is ready and willing to play a role in building for the future. We must come together to plan for future generations through technological advancements. This partnership is a solid demonstration of this commitment.

Telstra chief executive officer Andrew Penn said the company was thrilled to be involved in such a dynamic, world-leading project.

“The potential of quantum computing is significant for countries across the globe, and we are excited to be part of this important initiative to build the world’s first silicon-based quantum computer in Sydney,” said Mr Penn.

“Telstra is ready and willing to play a role in building for the future. We must come together to plan for future generations through technological advancements. This partnership is a solid demonstration of this commitment.”

Professor Simmons, who leads the centre with more that 180 researchers, said the investment sent a “very powerful message about supporting internationally leading Australia research in areas of breakthrough technology”.

“It has been an amazing week for the silicon quantum computing teams at UNSW and the University of Melbourne. We are thrilled that Australian technology leaders Telstra are getting behind our world-leading research. It is recognition of the fantastic work that many researchers across these nodes have achieved over the past decade and we hope this investment will form the basis of new industries here in Australia,” Professor Simmons said.

Melbourne University's Dr Charles Hill and Professor Lloyd Hollenberg, the Centre's Deputy Director

UNSW President and Vice-Chancellor Ian Jacobs thanked the government, Telstra and the CBA, hailing the collaboration as a powerful example of “what can happen when a culture of innovation is fostered from the top”.

“What a week for innovation, industry collaboration and UNSW’s world-leading quantum computing researchers,” said Professor Jacobs.

“The University applauds the vision and commitment of two of Australia's iconic corporates, the Commonwealth Bank and Telstra, in recognising the global significance and promise that quantum computing holds for the future.”

Quantum computing in silicon is an entirely new system at the atomic scale and Australia leads the world in single-atom engineering. In the long term, a single quantum computer has the potential to exceed the combined power of all the computers currently on Earth for certain high-value applications including data processing and drug development.

We are already at the forefront here, and now is the time to back our success, invest the money and see some results.

Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Christopher Pyne told the National Press Club that Australian researchers were currently winning the global quantum computing race and the government intended to cement their position.

“We are already at the forefront here, and now is the time to back our success, invest the money and see some results,” said Mr Pyne.

Telstra’s chief said quantum computing represented an “important leap in innovation” and would open a world of new possibilities.

“We want to help those possibilities become a reality,” Mr Penn said.

“Through this investment, and in partnership with other corporate partners such as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, we can work together to put Australia at the forefront of global innovation.”

As well as financial support Mr Penn said Telstra would offer the resources of its data science team, including the skills and knowledge of Telstra’s chief scientist Dr Hugh Bradlow.

News Release Source : Telstra matches $10m CBA pledge for quantum computing race

               Image Credit : UNSW

Commonwealth Bank Invests $10m to Quantum Computing Flagship

Commonwealth Bank commits $10m to quantum computing flagship

08 DEC 2015

UNSW Sydney

CBA’s $10 million pledge to support UNSW's quantum computing research sends a powerful message about industry collaboration on world-leading Australian innovation, and builds on major government investment announced this week.

UNSW welcomes the Commonwealth Bank’s $10 million pledge to support the University’s bid to build the world’s first silicon-based quantum computer, following a major government investment in the project this week.

[caption id="attachment_708" align="aligncenter" width="563"]          Commonwealth Bank Invests $10m to Quantum Computing Flagship[/caption]

The UNSW-based Australian Research Council Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology received a $26 million boost as part of the federal government’s $1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda unveiled on Monday.

World-leading innovation can happen – and is happening – in Australia.

Led by UNSW Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons, the Centre is leading the global race to build the world’s first quantum computer, a technology the government said would “transform Australian and global business”.

Following the innovation funding announcement, CBA chief executive Ian Narev on Tuesday said the bank intended to invest an additional $10 million over five years, building on an initial $5 millioncommitted in December 2014.

Mr Narev said Professor Simmons’ trailblazing work was proof that “world-leading innovation can happen – and is happening – in Australia”.

“For innovation to thrive there must be collaboration between governments, research institutions, businesses and entrepreneurs,” he said.

“Our investment has a long-term focus and is an example of potential collaboration and commercialisation.”

Professor Simmons was delighted by the announcement, which she said underscored the Commonwealth Bank’s position as a visionary technology leader.

“This investment sends a very powerful message about supporting internationally leading Australian research in areas of breakthrough technology,” she said.

“We are very much looking forward to extending our positive interactions with the bank to secure this technology for Australia’s future.”

UNSW President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Jacobs thanked the Bank for its funding commitment to the Centre’s ground-breaking and globally significant work.

“By working effectively with industry, government and leaders across the entire innovation ecosystem, universities can have a profound impact,” said Professor Jacobs.

We are very much looking forward to extending our positive interactions with the bank to secure this technology for Australia’s future.

Quantum computing in silicon is an entirely new system at the atomic scale and Australia leads the world in single-atom engineering. In the long term, a single quantum computer has the potential to exceed the combined power of all the computers currently on Earth for certain high-value applications including data processing and drug development.

David Whiteing, chief information officer at CBA, said quantum computing would increase the speed and power of computers “beyond what we can currently imagine”.

“This is still some time in the future, but the time for investment is now,” he said.

News Release Source : Commonwealth Bank commits $10m to quantum computing flagship

Image Credit : UNSW

Australian Engineers Make Another Quantum Computing Breakthrough

Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible

Strongest possible proof obtained that using entanglement to write executable software code for quantum computers is indeed possible

UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

17-NOV-2015

A team of Australian engineers has proven -- with the highest score ever obtained -- that a quantum version of computer code can be written, and manipulated, using two quantum bits in a silicon microchip. The advance removes lingering doubts that such operations can be made reliably enough to allow powerful quantum computers to become a reality.



[caption id="attachment_695" align="alignnone" width="650"] Project leader Andrea Morello (left) with lead authors Stephanie Simmons (middle) and                             Juan Pablo Dehollain (right) in the UNSW laboratory where the experiments were performed.[/caption]

The result, obtained by a team at UNSW, appears today in the international journal, Nature Nanotechnology.

The quantum code written at UNSW is built upon a class of phenomena called quantum entanglement, which allows for seemingly counterintuitive phenomena such as the measurement of one particle instantly affecting another – even if they are at opposite ends of the universe.

“This effect is famous for puzzling some of the deepest thinkers in the field, including Albert Einstein, who called it ‘spooky action at a distance’,” said Professor Andrea Morello, of the School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications at UNSW and Program Manager in the Centre for Quantum Computation & Communication Technology, who led the research. “Einstein was sceptical about entanglement, because it appears to contradict the principles of ‘locality’, which means that objects cannot be instantly influenced from a distance.”

Physicists have since struggled to establish a clear boundary between our everyday world -- which is governed by classical physics -- and this strangeness of the quantum world. For the past 50 years, the best guide to that boundary has been a theorem called Bell's Inequality, which states that no local description of the world can reproduce all of the predictions of quantum mechanics.

Bell's Inequality demands a very stringent test to verify if two particles are actually entangled, known as the 'Bell test', named for the British physicist who devised the theorem in 1964.

"The key aspect of the Bell test is that it is extremely unforgiving: any imperfection in the preparation, manipulation and read-out protocol will cause the particles to fail the test," said Dr Juan Pablo Dehollain, a UNSW Research Associate who with Dr Stephanie Simmons was a lead author of the Nature Nanotechnology paper.

"Nevertheless, we have succeeded in passing the test, and we have done so with the highest 'score' ever recorded in an experiment," he added.

In the UNSW experiment, the two quantum particles involved are an electron and the nucleus of a single phosphorus atom, placed inside a silicon microchip. These particles are, literally, on top of each other -- the electron orbits around the nucleus. Therefore, there is no complication arising from the spookiness of action at a distance.

However, the significance of the UNSW experiment is that creating these two-particle entangled states is tantamount to writing a type of computer code that does not exist in everyday computers. It therefore demonstrates the ability to write a purely quantum version of computer code, using two quantum bits in a silicon microchip -- a key plank in the quest super-powerful quantum computers of the future.

"Passing the Bell test with such a high score is the strongest possible proof that we have the operation of a quantum computer entirely under control," said Morello. "In particular, we can access the purely-quantum type of code that requires the use of the delicate quantum entanglement between two particles."

In a normal computer, using two bits one, could write four possible code words: 00, 01, 10 and 11. In a quantum computer, instead, one can also write and use 'superpositions' of the classical code words, such as (01 + 10), or (00 + 11). This requires the creation of quantum entanglement between two particles.

"These codes are perfectly legitimate in a quantum computer, but don't exist in a classical one," said UNSW Research Fellow Stephanie Simmons, the paper's co-author. "This is, in some sense, the reason why quantum computers can be so much more powerful: with the same number of bits, they allow us to write a computer code that contains many more words, and we can use those extra words to run a different algorithm that reaches the result in a smaller number of steps."

Morello highlighted the importance of achieving the breakthrough using a silicon chip: "What I find mesmerising about this experiment is that this seemingly innocuous 'quantum computer code' - (01 + 10) and (00 + 11) - has puzzled, confused and infuriated generations of physicists over the past 80 years.

"Now, we have shown beyond any doubt that we can write this code inside a device that resembles the silicon microchips you have on your laptop or your mobile phone. It's a real triumph of electrical engineering," he added.

###

In addition to the team lead by Morello, the work was supported by Professor Andrew Dzurak and his team at UNSW, as well as collaborators from the University of Melbourne and Japan's Keio University.

News Release Source : Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible

Image Credit : UNSW

Professor Michelle Simmons : Leading Australia’s Quantum Future

2015 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science

Professor Michelle Simmons is Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology Centre, based at the University of New South Wales awarded 2015 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science for Leading Australia’s quantum future.

[caption id="attachment_633" align="aligncenter" width="600"]           Professor Michelle Simmons : Leading Australia’s Quantum Future[/caption]

 Leading Australia’s quantum future

Australia’s position at the forefront of the developing field of quantum computing is at least partly due to the leadership shown by Professor Michelle Simmons.
Professor Simmons is Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology Centre, based at the University of New South Wales.

Under her leadership, the team has:

• Developed the world’s smallest transistor, built of one single atom.


• Built the world’s smallest silicon wires, a thousand times narrower than a human hair.


• Independently controlled quantum components only a few millionths of a millimetre apart.

For her leadership, passion, commitment and energy devoted to advancing the field of quantum computing in Australia, Professor Simmons has been awarded the CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science.

“The 180 researchers of the Quantum Computation and Communication Technology Centre, which Professor Simmons established and leads, are ensuring Australia’s success in what will become a multi-billion dollar industry,” Kim McKay AO, Executive Director and CEO of the Australian Museum said. “Their success is a tribute to Professor Simmons’ demonstrated passion, commitment and energy,” she said.

Professor Simmons achievements are legendary in the Australian science community. She is:

• One of the youngest and one of the first female physicists elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (2006).


• An Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow (2013).


• One of very few researchers to have won two Australian Research Council Federation Fellowships (2003 and 2008).


• A Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2014).

Established in 1827, the Australian Museum is the nation’s first museum and one of its foremost scientific research, educational and cultural institutions. The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are the most comprehensive national science awards, honouring excellence in Research and Innovation, Leadership, Science Communication and Journalism, and School Science.

The other finalists were:

• Professor Snow Barlow (University of Melbourne) for policy and research leadership in the field of climate change.


• Rosie Hicks (Australian National Fabrication Facility), for leading national collaboration in Australia’s scientific infrastructure.

For more information about all the winners

News Source Release : 2015 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science

Image Credit : www.science.unsw.edu.au