Dr.
Atsushi Goto [Senior Researcher of the High Field NMR Group (Group Leader: Tadashi Shimizu) of the Nano Characterization Unit (Unit Director: Daisuke Fujita) in National Institute for Materials Science (President: Sukekatsu Ushioda)] and his co-workers discovered a new operation principle for a “solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum computer,” which is one of the most advanced testbeds for “quantum computation”. This achievement was accomplished using the apparatus developed by the team and a magnet installed in High Magnetic Field Station (Station Leader: Hiroaki Kumakura), NIMS.
“Quantum computer” is a new paradigm of computer science, which operates making use of the principles of quantum mechanics. It is expected to provide the ability to solve problems that are practically insolvable with existing computers due to the extremely long computation time required. The solid-state NMR quantum computer, which employs nuclear spins in solids (mainly semiconductors) as quantum bits (qubits), is among the most promising schemes for scalable quantum computers. However, it has been a challenge to implement a control scheme for nuclear spin-spin couplings that mediate information between qubits. The team discovered a mechanism that enables control of nuclear spin-spin couplings in a semiconductor by simply turning on and off the light illuminating the semiconductor. This discovery is expected to help advance the progress in research and development of solid-state NMR quantum computers.
This research was carried out as part of the research topic “Development of hyperpolarization schemes for nuclear spins in solids assisted by the optical pumping method” (Researcher: Atsushi Goto) in the research area “Photons on Soft Material” (Research Supervisor: Tetsuo Tsutsui, Professor Emeritus, Kyushu University), under the PRESTO (Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology) Program/Individual Research of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
This research achievement was announced in the online edition of the British scientific journal “Nature Communications” at midnight, July 6, 2011 Japan time (16:00 July 5, GMT).
