Qubits—the fundamental units of quantum information—drive entire tech sectors. Among them, superconducting qubits could be instrumental in building a large-scale quantum computer, but they rely on electrical signals and are difficult to scale. In a breakthrough, a team of physicists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) has achieved a fully optical readout of superconducting qubits, pushing the technology beyond its current limitations. Their findings were published in Nature Physics.

The University of Strathclyde has partnered with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Quantum Motion to develop new ways to overcome the challenges of running quantum control electronics in extremely cold conditions.

A research team led by Prof. PAN Jianwei, Prof. WAN Zhensheng and Prof. DENG Youjin from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences observed counterflow superfluidity in two-component Mott insulator for the first time. The study was published in Nature Physics.

In a paper recently published in Nature Physics, an international group of researchers comprised of an experimental team from Switzerland and France and theoretical physicists in Canada and the U.S., including Rice University, have found evidence of this enigmatic quantum spin liquid in a material known as pyrochlore cerium stannate. They achieved this by combining state-of-the-art experimental techniques, including neutron scattering at extremely low temperatures, with theoretical analysis. By measuring the way in which neutrons interact magnetically with the electron spin in pyrochlore, the researchers observed the collective excitations of spins interacting strongly with lightlike waves.

A quantum computer the size of a smartphone – researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) are investigating how this could become reality. Physicist Prof. Dr. Vojislav Krstić and his team of researchers are focusing on developing quantum bits (Qubits) that work on the basis of topological isolators, a class of materials that have increasingly become the focus of research over recent years thanks to their unusual properties. The pioneering project has now received funding of over 900,000 euros.

In a new study, physicists at Brown University have now observed a novel class of quantum particles called fractional excitons, which behave in unexpected ways and could significantly expand scientists’ understanding of the quantum realm.

The rare-earth metal erbium could play a key role in future quantum networks: researchers from MPQ and TU Munich succeeded in spectrally resolving and individually controlling up to 360 erbium ions.

AmpliTech Group, Inc., a designer, developer, and manufacturer of state-of-the-art signal processing components for satellite, Public and Private 5G, and other communications networks, including the design of complete 5G/6G systems and a global distributor of packages and lids for integrated circuits assembly, proudly announces the successful development and deployment of its proprietary low-noise cryogenic High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) amplifiers. These state-of-the-art amplifiers play a critical role in enabling quantum computers to operate efficiently at extremely low temperatures of 4 Kelvin (-452°F), a prerequisite for high-fidelity quantum operations.

The quantum Hall effect, a fundamental effect in quantum mechanics, not only generates an electric but also a magnetic current. It arises from the motion of electrons on an orbit around the nuclei of atoms. This has been demonstrated by the calculations of a team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) which were published in the journal "Physical Review Letters". These results can potentially be used to develop new types of inexpensive and energy-efficient devices. Electricity flows through all types of electronic devices, be it mobile phones or computers. However, this generates heat, which means that energy is lost. It also means that conventional computer chips cannot be infinitely scaled down. In the field of spin-orbitronics, researchers are looking for alternatives for storing and processing information without the loss of energy. The basic idea is to utilise not only an electron’s charge, but also its spin and orbital moment when processing information. Spin is the intrinsic angular momentum of an electron, and the orbital moment arises from the motion of the electrons around atomic nuclei. "Combining both effects would allow us to design new devices that are more powerful and efficient," says physicist Professor Ingrid Mertig at MLU.

Physicist Christian Schneider has been awarded one of the European Research Council's coveted Consolidator Grants. His project focuses on a special group of so-called two-dimensional materials and their optical properties.