Scientists from Eth Zürich have recently achieved a groundbreaking feat by creating the first ever working mechanical cubit in history. The development, as described in the journal Science, represents a unique approach to cubit creation that has shown high efficiency in testing.
Quantum computers hold the promise of solving problems that are currently inaccessible to classical systems. However, various challenges hinder their development, including errors that arise in virtual cubits created using electromagnetic methods. In order to overcome this issue, researchers have put forward the idea of using mechanical cubits.
Unlike traditional bits, which are restricted to values of “0” or “1”, cubits have the ability to exist in a state of superposition, combining both values simultaneously. As part of their study, researchers developed a membrane element that resembles a stretched drum skin, capable of storing information in a stable, vibrating state or their combinations.
One of the main limitations of virtual cubits is their extremely short lifespan. To enhance stability, the team employed a piezoelectric disk mounted on a sapphire base as a mechanical resonator. Additionally, a cubit made from superconducting material was created, also being placed on a sapphire base using a specially designed technique.
The outcome of this work was a device with a coherence time dependent on the superconductor utilized. On average, the performance of the new cubit surpassed that of hybrid or virtual counterparts in terms of key metrics.
Future efforts will be concentrated on enhancing coherence time through the use of novel materials, as well as evaluating the ability of cubits to work with quantum logical gates. The advancement of such technologies holds the potential to bring about practical applications of quantum computers in the near future.