Giant atoms ‘trapped’ for record time at room temperature

Giant atoms received support as a contestant to make the best quantum simulators and computers, because researchers have checked them for a long time for a room temperature experiment.

Take an atom, set quantum properties with electromagnetic impacts or laser light – change the energy of electrons – and you can use it to encode information. Do this with thousands of atoms and you have a quantum computer or a simulator for exotic quantum materials. However, after a while, atoms can automatically change their situations that bring errors. For room temperature experiments, they can only be controlled and therefore useful during a finite “lifetime ,, with a maximum of 1400 seconds. Scientists were able to trap atoms for longer, but these approaches required the entire installation to be placed in a giant refrigerator and created logistical difficulties.

ZHENPU ZHANG AND CINDY REGAL Colorado University Boulder and his colleagues now broke the record of that room temperature. Since some of the electrons were far from the nucleus, they used super -dimensional Rydberg atoms. The team uploaded the atoms to a valve from all air particles that could disturb them, and then held each atom with laser or “optical tweezers”. This is a standard way to control Rydberg atoms, which are extremely sensitive to electromagnetic fields and light.

The researchers also added a layer of copper to the edges of the container, then cooled the coating to -269 ° C (-452 ° F). This protected the atoms that could change their condition from heat. In addition, Zhang says that any street airplane adheres to Copper Siding, similar to how hot water droplets on a cold surface concentrate, and thus improves the vacuum in the container. As a result, the team can keep the atoms stuck for about 50 minutes-3000 seconds or roughly twice the longer and well-controlled.

Zhang began to build this installation from close scratches about five years ago, says Regal. “This is like completely renewing how you think of doing these experiments, or he says.

Clément sayrin In the Castes in France, the Brossel Laboratory, the new approach can make it possible to manipulate more atoms, which will increase the calculation power of any computer or simulator made from them. “Three thousand seconds are too long. For these atoms, you need to work hard for these long life expectancy, or he says. However, there are more atoms in the room, he says he will have to use more laser to control them, which atoms can reduce their lives, so there are more engineering difficulties.