14 DAY TRIAL // Quantum computers are considered the holy grail of the IT industry, capable of easily solving problems that a normal computer can't. Unfortunately, like holy grails are wont to, they have skillfully been staying out of sight and reach. British cash just made the way a lot clearer though.
It was a totally random discovery that provided a material capable of making quantum computing feasible, but we suppose so was Newton's discovery of gravity.
This is one of those hilariously ironic situations where money really does solve everything. Or at least, the scientific approach to cash did.
Which is to say, a common blue pigment used in the £5 note can be used to develop quantum computers.
The pigment is called copper phthalocyanine, but the short moniker is CuPc. Which kind of fits the theme of a qubit PC.
Qubits are the tiny individual quantum analogs of the classical binary bits “0” and “1,” but they can exist in superposition states.
According to quantum superposition, a physical system, like an electron, can exist partly in all its particular theoretically possible states but, upon being observed, only gives a result corresponding to one of the possible configurations.
Qubits have two states. Controlling which of those states is “observed” is essential in building a quantum computer, but we digress.
CuPC is a low-cost organic semiconductor found in many household products actually, and can be made into a thin film easily.
The pigment in five-pound bills can ensure that the state of “superposition” is maintained for a very long time. And with the short lifespan of “qubits” being the main sore point in quantum computing development, this is an important discovery indeed.
“In theory, a quantum computer can easily solve problems that a normal, classical, computer would not be able to answer in the lifetime of the universe. We just don't know how to build one yet,” said lead author Marc Warner from the London Centre for Nanotechnology.
“Our research shows that a common blue dye has more potential for quantum computing than many of the more exotic molecules that have been considered previously.”
CuPC possess many other useful attributes, which can exploit the spin of electrons instead of their charge, or process information by controlling magnetic an electrical properties (CuPC can absorb visible light and change its chemistry and physical attributes).
“The properties of copper phthalocyanine make it of interest for the emerging field of quantum engineering, which seeks to exploit the quantum properties of matter to perform tasks like information processing or sensing more effectively than has ever been possible,” Dr. Warner said.