In quest to create quantum computers, University of Michigan physicists build a better atom trap
Crossposted to ontd_science here
Examiner.com: In quest to create quantum computers, U of M physicists build a better atom trap
by Vince Lamb, Detroit Science News Examiner
Earlier this month, the University of Michigan announced that four of the institution's physicists had trapped giant atoms, called Rydberg atoms, in a trap made of laser beams. This achievement, while noteworthy as an example of scientific ingenuity in its own right, carries greater significance as a major step in developing quantum computers, which may be able to solve problems too complicated for conventional computers.
The team of physicists, consisting of Professor Georg Rathel, associate chair of the Department of Physics, two doctoral students, Kelly Younge and Sarah Anderson, and a recent graduate, Brenton Knuffman, who is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, started by exciting the lone outermost, or valence, electrons of rubidium atoms with finely tuned lasers. The electrons then jumped to 100 times their normal distance from the nucleus of the rubidium atoms, turning them into giant Rydberg atoms. The highly excited valence electrons then behaved almost like free electrons, allowing the Rydberg atoms to be trapped.
The researchers took advantage of what's called the "ponderomotive force," which allowed them to capture an Rydberg atom by holding fast to just one electron--the valence electron they excited with the lasers. They then formed an optical lattice, essentially a light cage, with multiple, intense, interfering laser beams, which also provided the ponderomotive force.
Yet more at the source, which can be reached by clicking on the title.
Yes, I finally wrote this thing.
Examiner.com: In quest to create quantum computers, U of M physicists build a better atom trap
by Vince Lamb, Detroit Science News Examiner
Earlier this month, the University of Michigan announced that four of the institution's physicists had trapped giant atoms, called Rydberg atoms, in a trap made of laser beams. This achievement, while noteworthy as an example of scientific ingenuity in its own right, carries greater significance as a major step in developing quantum computers, which may be able to solve problems too complicated for conventional computers.
The team of physicists, consisting of Professor Georg Rathel, associate chair of the Department of Physics, two doctoral students, Kelly Younge and Sarah Anderson, and a recent graduate, Brenton Knuffman, who is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, started by exciting the lone outermost, or valence, electrons of rubidium atoms with finely tuned lasers. The electrons then jumped to 100 times their normal distance from the nucleus of the rubidium atoms, turning them into giant Rydberg atoms. The highly excited valence electrons then behaved almost like free electrons, allowing the Rydberg atoms to be trapped.
The researchers took advantage of what's called the "ponderomotive force," which allowed them to capture an Rydberg atom by holding fast to just one electron--the valence electron they excited with the lasers. They then formed an optical lattice, essentially a light cage, with multiple, intense, interfering laser beams, which also provided the ponderomotive force.
Yet more at the source, which can be reached by clicking on the title.
Yes, I finally wrote this thing.