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 Quantum Computing Companies in Global Race to Commercialize Technology

Q-CTRL and Diraq, two prominent players in the development of valuable quantum technologies through software and hardware, have announced a collaboration on three substantial projects aimed at expanding the adoption of quantum computing for commercial purposes. This marks the initial phase of an anticipated partnership that will bring cutting-edge quantum computing capabilities to the global market, with a focus on Australia.

Australian Quantum Computing Companies in Global Race to Commercialize Technology

These two Australian quantum technology companies will join forces to deliver three projects, two of which are supported by the Quantum Computing Commercialisation Fund (QCCF) from the NSW Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer, while the third project is backed by the U.S. Army Research Office. The responsibilities for these projects will be divided between Q-CTRL and Diraq: Diraq will be responsible for the development and provision of its Silicon-based quantum computing hardware, while Q-CTRL will focus on building and integrating its quantum infrastructure software solutions to maximize the value for end-users.

Q-CTRL and Diraq's collaboration showcases Australia's leading role in the quantum technology industry worldwide. Diraq's hardware is constructed using a unique technology called spins in silicon, which enables scalability to millions, and potentially billions, of qubits per chip. On the other hand, Q-CTRL is a pioneering company that focuses on developing software solutions to enhance the utility and performance of quantum hardware. The founders and CEOs of Q-CTRL and Diraq, Michael Biercuk and Andrew Dzurak respectively, have a longstanding professional relationship spanning over two decades, starting from their academic pursuits and continuing into the industry.

With the recently announced National Quantum Strategy, the Australian quantum ecosystem is thriving, and the government has taken proactive measures to support the growth of the industry.

The Quantum Computing Commercialisation Fund, an initiative from New South Wales, aims to empower Australian companies in the quantum computing hardware and software sector. The projects supported by this fund are geared towards enhancing the commercial and technological readiness of quantum computing technologies, with a focus on long-term commercial viability. The joint efforts of Diraq and Q-CTRL will pave the way for Australia's first cloud-accessible silicon quantum processor, bringing cutting-edge capabilities to the country's globally renowned financial services sector.

Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, highlighted the shared commitment between Diraq and Q-CTRL in driving innovation in the quantum computing industry, both within Australia and on a global scale. He expressed his delight in collaborating with Q-CTRL and leveraging their respective areas of expertise to achieve successful outcomes for these transformative projects.

Australian companies and University teams have long engaged with the US Army Research Office in support of quantum computing capability development. In the current project led by Diraq, the two teams will focus on developing novel techniques to operate and optimize next-generation Silicon quantum processors. The ARO R&D program now aligns with quantum technology initiatives supported under the trilateral AUKUS agreement’s Pillar II. AUKUS Pillar II is aimed at enhancing capabilities and interoperability with a focus on cyber capabilities, AI, quantum technologies and undersea capabilities. In July, Q-CTRL announced a separate deal with the Australian Department of Defence, centering around quantum sensors for navigation; the technological breakthroughs would be shared with AUKUS partners in the US and UK.

“It’s exciting to see Australia’s two leading quantum computing companies collaborating to deliver true sovereign capability in one of the most profound technical fields of the century,” said Q-CTRL CEO and Founder, Michael Biercuk. “We’re thrilled to be helping accelerate the work of our friends at Diraq, and ensuring these powerful new systems deliver value broadly across the Australian and global economies."

More details on

1. Q-CTRL

2. Diraq

3. Image: From Google Search Internet.

Quantum Computing Leap Closer to Reality with a Chemistry Breakthrough

Quantum computing closer with chemistry breakthrough

18 July 2016

The University of Sydney

Simple chemistry poised to unlock complex computer problems.

Quantum computing is a leap closer to reality with a chemistry breakthrough demonstrating it is possible for nanomaterials to operate at room temperature rather than at abolute zero experienced in deep space (-273C).

[caption id="attachment_826" align="aligncenter" width="611"]     Quantum Computing Leap Closer to Reality with a Chemistry Breakthrough[/caption]

"Chemistry gives us the power to create nanomaterials on demand."

- Dr. Dr Mohammad Choucair.

The key to quantum computing could be a simple as burning the active ingredient in moth balls; using this method, the holy grail of quantum computing – the ability to work in ‘real-world’ room temperatures – has been demonstrated by an international group of researchers, combining chemistry with quantum physics.

Co-led by Dr Mohammad Choucair – who recently finished a University of Sydney research fellowship gained as an outstanding early career researcher in the School of Chemistry – the 31-year-old has been working with collaborators in Switzerland and Germany for two years before the breakthrough.

The team has made a conducting carbon material that they demonstrated could be used to perform quantum computing at room temperature, rather than near absolute zero (-273°C).

The material is simply created by burning naphthalene; the ashes form the carbon material. Not only has it solved the question of temperature, it also addresses other issues such as the need for conductivity and the ability to integrate into silicon.

The results are published today in the high-impact journal Nature Communications.

Dr Choucair said the discovery meant as a result, practical quantum computing might be possible within a few years. “We have made quantum computing more accessible,” he said. “This work demonstrates the simple ad-hoc preparation of carbon-based quantum bits.

“Chemistry gives us the power to create nanomaterials on-demand that could form the basis of technologies like quantum computers and spintronics, combining to make more efficient and powerful machines.”

The next step is to build a prototyping chip – but Dr Choucair said he was particularly interested in the possibilities that could come from longer-term research. Rather than seeking comprehensive commercial opportunities, he plans to use the facilities at the University-based Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology and further the work at its headquarters, the new $150m Sydney Nanoscience Hub.

Dr Choucair said he was passionate about improving technology for the public and supported open access research. “Quantum computing will allow us to advance our technology and our understanding of the natural world,” he said.

“Whether it’s designing drugs to cure cancer, cleaning our air or addressing our energy concerns, we need to build more complex computers to solve these complex problems.”

News Release Source : Quantum computing closer with chemistry breakthrough

Image Credit : The University of Sydney

Australian Quantum Computing Scientist Got Top International Award

Top international award for quantum computing chief

For her world-leading research in the fabrication of atomic-scale devices for quantum computing, Scientia Professor Michelle Simmons has been awarded a prestigious Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology.

[caption id="attachment_821" align="aligncenter" width="563"] Australian Quantum Computing Scientist Got Top International Award[/caption]

Two international Feynman prizes, named in honour of the late Nobel Prize-winning American physicist Richard Feynman, are awarded each year in the categories of theory and experiment to researchers whose work has most advanced Feynman’s nanotechnology goal of molecular manufacturing.

Professor Simmons, director of the UNSW-based Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T), won the experimental prize from the Foresight Institute for her work in “the new field of atomic-electronics, which she created”.

By creating electronic devices atom by atom, we are gaining a very fundamental understanding of how the world behaves at the atomic scale, and it’s phenomenally exciting.

Her group is the only one in the world that can make atomically precise devices in silicon. They have produced the world’s first single-atom transistor as well as the narrowest conducting wires ever made in silicon, just four atoms of phosphorus wide and one atom high.

President of the Foresight Institute Julia Bossmann said the US $5000 prizes reward visionary research. “Our laureates realise that big innovation is possible on the nanoscale. The prizes acknowledge these pioneering scientists and inspire others to follow their lead.”

Professor Simmons said: “I am delighted to win this award. Feynman once said: ‘What I cannot create, I do not understand’.

“By creating electronic devices atom by atom, we are gaining a very fundamental understanding of how the world behaves at the atomic scale, and it’s phenomenally exciting,” she said.

As director of CQC2T, Professor Simmons heads a team of more than 180 researchers across six Australian universities, including UNSW. She has previously been awarded two Australian Research Council Federation Fellowships and currently holds a Laureate Fellowship.

She has won both the Australian Academy of Science’s Pawsey Medal (2005) and Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal (2015) for outstanding research in physics. She was named NSW Scientist of the Year in 2012, and in 2015 she was awarded the Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science.

In 2014, she had the rare distinction for an Australian researcher of becoming an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also editor-in-chief of the first Nature Partner Journal based in Australia, npj Quantum Information.

In April, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull opened new quantum computing laboratories at UNSW and praised Professor Simmons’ contribution to the nation as both a scientist and director of the CQC2T team.

“You’re not just doing great work, Michelle. You’re doing the best work in the world,” Mr Turnbull said. “It is a tribute to your leadership, your talent … that you’ve attracted so many outstanding scientists and engineers from around the world. This is a very global team and it’s right here at the University of New South Wales.”

The Forsight Institute is a leading think tank and public interest organisation focused on transformative future technologies. Founded in 1986, its mission is to discover and promote the upsides, and help avoid the drawbacks, of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and similar life-changing developments.

In 1959, Richard Feynman gave a visionary talk at the California Institute of Technology in which he said: “The problems of chemistry and biology can be greatly helped if our ability to see what we are doing, and to do things on an atomic level, is ultimately developed – a development which I think cannot be avoided.”

Both Feynman Prizes, which were announced overnight in the US, are for 2015. The theory prize was awarded to Professor Marcus Buehler of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for developing new modelling, design and manufacturing approaches for advance materials with a wide range of controllable properties from the nanoscale to the macroscale.

News Release Source : Top international award for quantum computing chief

Image Credit : UNSW

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 Researchers Create a Quantum ‘Fredkin Gate’

Unlocking the gates to quantum computing

Griffith’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics
March 28, 2016

Researchers have overcome one of the key challenges to quantum computing by simplifying a complex quantum logic operation. They demonstrated this by experimentally realising a challenging circuit, the quantum Fredkin gate, for the first time.

[caption id="attachment_762" align="aligncenter" width="468"]    Australian Researchers Create a Quantum ‘Fredkin Gate’[/caption]

“The allure of quantum computers is the unparalleled processing power that they provide compared to current technology,” saidDr Raj Patel from Griffith’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics.

“Much like our everyday computer, the brains of a quantum computer consist of chains of logic gates, although quantum logic gates harness quantum phenomena.”

The main stumbling block to actually creating a quantum computer has been in minimising the number of resources needed to efficiently implement processing circuits.

“Similar to building a huge wall out lots of small bricks, large quantum circuits require very many logic gates to function. However, if larger bricks are used the same wall could be built with far fewer bricks,” said Dr Patel.

In an experiment involving researchers from Griffith University and the University of Queensland, it was demonstrated how to build larger quantum circuits in a more direct way without using small logic gates.

At present, even small and medium scale quantum computer circuits cannot be produced because of the requirement to integrate so many of these gates into the circuits. One example is the Fredkin (controlled- SWAP) gate. This is a gate where two qubits are swapped depending on the value of the third.

Usually the Fredkin gate requires implementing a circuit of five logic operations. The research team used the quantum entanglement of photons – particles of light – to implement the controlled-SWAP operation directly.

“There are quantum computing algorithms, such as Shor’s algorithm for finding prime factors, that require the controlled-SWAP operation,” said Professor Tim Ralph from the University of Queensland.

The quantum Fredkin gate can also be used to perform a direct comparison of two sets of qubits (quantum bits) to determine whether they are the same or not. This is not only useful in computing but is an essential feature of some secure quantum communication protocols where the goal is to verify that two strings, or digital signatures, are the same.”

Professor Geoff Pryde, from Griffith’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics, is the project’s chief investigator.

“What is exciting about our scheme is that it is not limited to just controlling whether qubits are swapped, but can be applied to a variety of different operations opening up ways to control larger circuits efficiently,” said Professor Pryde.

“This could unleash applications that have so far been out of reach.”

The team is part of the Australian Research Council’s Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, an effort to exploit Australia’s strong expertise in developing quantum information technologies.

News Release Source : Unlocking the gates to quantum computing

Image Credit : Griffith’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics

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 Physicists Solve Quantum Tunneling Mystery

Australian Physicists Solve Quantum Tunneling Mystery

An international team of scientists studying ultrafast physics have solved a mystery of quantum mechanics, and found that quantum tunneling is an instantaneous process

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

28 MAY 2015

An international team of scientists studying ultrafast physics have solved a mystery of quantum mechanics, and found that quantum tunneling is an instantaneous process.

[caption id="attachment_621" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Professor Anatoli Kheifets' theory tackles ultrafast physics.                                                   Image Credit : Stuart Hay, ANU[/caption]

The new theory could lead to faster and smaller electronic components, for which quantum tunneling is a significant factor. It will also lead to a better understanding of diverse areas such as electron microscopy, nuclear fusion and DNA mutations.

"Timescales this short have never been explored before. It's an entirely new world," said one of the international team, Professor Anatoli Kheifets, from The Australian National University (ANU).

"We have modelled the most delicate processes of nature very accurately."

At very small scales quantum physics shows that particles such as electrons have wave-like properties - their exact position is not well defined. This means they can occasionally sneak through apparently impenetrable barriers, a phenomenon called quantum tunneling.

Quantum tunneling plays a role in a number of phenomena, such as nuclear fusion in the sun, scanning tunneling microscopy, and flash memory for computers. However, the leakage of particles also limits the miniaturisation of electronic components.

Professor Kheifets and Dr. Igor Ivanov, from the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering, are members of a team which studied ultrafast experiments at the attosecond scale (10^-18 seconds), a field that has developed in the last 15 years.

Until their work, a number of attosecond phenomena could not be adequately explained, such as the time delay when a photon ionised an atom.

"At that timescale the time an electron takes to quantum tunnel out of an atom was thought to be significant. But the mathematics says the time during tunneling is imaginary - a complex number - which we realised meant it must be an instantaneous process," said Professor Kheifets.

"A very interesting paradox arises, because electron velocity during tunneling may become greater than the speed of light. However, this does not contradict the special theory of relativity, as the tunneling velocity is also imaginary" said Dr Ivanov, who recently took up a position at the Center for Relativistic Laser Science in Korea.

The team's calculations, which were made using the Raijin supercomputer, revealed that the delay in photoionisation originates not from quantum tunneling but from the electric field of the nucleus attracting the escaping electron.

The results give an accurate calibration for future attosecond-scale research, said Professor Kheifets.

"It's a good reference point for future experiments, such as studying proteins unfolding, or speeding up electrons in microchips," he said.

The research is published in Nature Physics.

News Release Source : Physicists solve quantum tunneling mystery

American Aircraft Helps Quantum Technology Take Flight

1980s American aircraft helps quantum technology take flight

What does a 1980s experimental aircraft have to do with state-of-the art quantum technology? Lots, as shown by new research from the Quantum Control Laboratory at the University of Sydney, and published in Nature Physics today.

[caption id="attachment_452" align="aligncenter" width="695"] American Aircraft Helps Quantum Technology Take Flight[/caption]

Over several years a team of scientists has taken inspiration from aerospace research and development programs to make unusually shaped experimental aircraft fly.

"It always amazed me that the X-29, an American airplane that was designed like a dart being thrown backwards, was able to fly. Achieving this, in 1984, came through major advances in a discipline called control engineering that were able to stabilise the airplane," said Associate Professor Michael Biercuk, from the School of Physics and director of the Quantum Control Laboratory.

"We became interested in how similar concepts could play a role in bringing quantum technologies to reality. If control engineering can turn an unstable dart into a high-performance fighter jet, it's pretty amazing to think what it can do for next-generation quantum technologies."

The result is that the researchers have been able to turn fragile quantum systems into useful pieces of advanced tech useful for everything from computation and communications to building specialised sensors for industry. The trick was figuring out how to protect them from their environments using control theory.

The big challenge facing quantum technologies is they are very sensitive to random 'noise' in surrounding environments, said Professor Biercuk. "Noise, in this case, is a bit like local electromagnetic weather experienced by a piece of hardware. Imagine your television only worked when the weather was perfectly sunny. Something needs to be done to make that technology more functional, even on the grey days."

The new field of quantum control engineering provided a path forward. The first step was trying to pinpoint how noise would affect a quantum system while it performed some task, which is fiendishly difficult.

"We were able to calculate how much damage is done to a quantum state using so-called transfer functions tailored to specific operations – for instance, manipulating a quantum system as a part of a computation," according to co-lead author, PhD student Harrison Ball.

The next issue was to show that the theoretical techniques actually worked.

"One of our main achievements has been to show – using experiments on real quantum systems in the form of atoms in a special trap – that the transfer functions were excellent at predicting how quantum systems changed in response to environmental noise."

With new capabilities to predict the effect of the environment on quantum systems, it became possible to protect them by applying the right control techniques.

"Similar to the control system that kept an aerodynamically unstable plane aloft, experiments revealed that our new techniques were able to keep the atoms performing useful computations," said Biercuk. "Turn off the new control techniques and they would crash and burn."

"Achieving this is a grand challenge for the entire community," according to Ball, and it is especially important as researchers move from proof-of-principle demonstrations to trying to develop real quantum technologies.

Working to make those technologies a reality is the aim of Prof. Biercuk and his colleagues in the ARC Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems.

"This may sound like futuristic fantasy, but the navigation system in your car works because of an early quantum technology – atomic clocks," according to Biercuk.

"We know that exotic phenomena like quantum systems being in two places at once, and even the ability to teleport quantum states, are real and accessible in the laboratory. Now we are trying to actually put them to work, and that means figuring out how to coax quantum systems into doing new and useful things."

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Image Credit: NASA photo by Larry Sammons

News Release Source : 1980s American aircraft helps quantum technology take flight

Australian Teams Set New Records for Silicon Quantum Computing

Australian teams set new records for silicon quantum computing

UNSW Newsroom
13 October 2014

Two research teams working in the same laboratories at UNSW Australia have found distinct solutions to a critical challenge that has held back the realisation of super powerful quantum computers.

[caption id="attachment_445" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Australian Teams Set New Records for Silicon Quantum Computing[/caption]

The teams created two types of quantum bits, or "qubits" – the building blocks for quantum computers – that each process quantum data with an accuracy above 99%. The two findings have been published simultaneously today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

"For quantum computing to become a reality we need to operate the bits with very low error rates," says Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, who is Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility at UNSW, where the devices were made.

"We've now come up with two parallel pathways for building a quantum computer in silicon, each of which shows this super accuracy," adds Associate Professor Andrea Morello from UNSW's School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications.



The UNSW teams, which are also affiliated with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation & Communication Technology, were first in the world to demonstrate single-atom spin qubits in silicon, reported in Nature in 2012 and 2013.

Now the team led by Dzurak has discovered a way to create an "artificial atom" qubit with a device remarkably similar to the silicon transistors used in consumer electronics, known as MOSFETs. Post-doctoral researcher Menno Veldhorst, lead author on the paper reporting the artificial atom qubit, says, "It is really amazing that we can make such an accurate qubit using pretty much the same devices as we have in our laptops and phones".

Meanwhile, Morello's team has been pushing the "natural" phosphorus atom qubit to the extremes of performance. Dr Juha Muhonen, a post-doctoral researcher and lead author on the natural atom qubit paper, notes: "The phosphorus atom contains in fact two qubits: the electron, and the nucleus. With the nucleus in particular, we have achieved accuracy close to 99.99%. That means only one error for every 10,000 quantum operations."

Dzurak explains that, "even though methods to correct errors do exist, their effectiveness is only guaranteed if the errors occur less than 1% of the time. Our experiments are among the first in solid-state, and the first-ever in silicon, to fulfill this requirement."

The high-accuracy operations for both natural and artificial atom qubits is achieved by placing each inside a thin layer of specially purified silicon, containing only the silicon-28 isotope. This isotope is perfectly non-magnetic and, unlike those in naturally occurring silicon, does not disturb the quantum bit. The purified silicon was provided through collaboration with Professor Kohei Itoh from Keio University in Japan.

The next step for the researchers is to build pairs of highly accurate quantum bits. Large quantum computers are expected to consist of many thousands or millions of qubits and may integrate both natural and artificial atoms.

Morello's research team also established a world-record "coherence time" for a single quantum bit held in solid state. "Coherence time is a measure of how long you can preserve quantum information before it's lost," Morello says. The longer the coherence time, the easier it becomes to perform long sequences of operations, and therefore more complex calculations.

The team was able to store quantum information in a phosphorus nucleus for more than 30 seconds. "Half a minute is an eternity in the quantum world. Preserving a 'quantum superposition' for such a long time, and inside what is basically a modified version of a normal transistor, is something that almost nobody believed possible until today," Morello says.

"For our two groups to simultaneously obtain these dramatic results with two quite different systems is very special, in particular because we are really great mates," adds Dzurak.

The quantum bit devices were constructed at UNSW at the Australian National Fabrication Facility, with support from researchers at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University. The research was funded by: the Australian Research Council, the US Army Research Office, the NSW Government, UNSW Australia and the University of Melbourne.

 

News Release Source : Australian teams set new records for silicon quantum computing

Image Credit : UNSW