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Category: computing – Page 6

New chip-scale microcomb uses lithium niobate to generate evenly spaced light

Applied physicists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have discovered a new way to generate ultra-precise, evenly spaced “combs” of laser light on a photonic chip, a breakthrough that could miniaturize optical platforms like spectroscopic sensors or communication systems.

The research was led by Marko Lončar, the Tiantsai Lin Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics at SEAS, and published in Science Advances. The paper’s first author is Yunxiang Song, a graduate student in Quantum Science and Engineering.

Next-generation OLEDs rely on fine-tuned microcavities

Researchers have developed a unified theory of microcavity OLEDs, guiding the design of more efficient and sustainable devices. The work reveals a surprising trade-off: squeezing light too tightly inside OLEDs can actually reduce performance, and maximum efficiency is achieved through a delicate balance of material and cavity parameters. The findings are published in the journal Materials Horizons.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) offer several attractive advantages over traditional LED technology: they are lightweight, flexible, and more environmentally friendly to manufacture and recycle. However, heavy-metal-free OLEDs can be rather inefficient, with up to 75% of the injected electrical current converting into heat.

OLED efficiency can be enhanced by placing the device inside an optical microcavity. Squeezing the electromagnetic field forces light to escape more rapidly instead of wasting energy as heat. “It is basically like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube,” explains Associate Professor Konstantinos Daskalakis from the University of Turku in Finland.

Simplifying quantum simulations—symmetry can cut computational effort by several orders of magnitude

Quantum computer research is advancing at a rapid pace. Today’s devices, however, still have significant limitations: For example, the length of a quantum computation is severely limited—that is, the number of possible interactions between quantum bits before a serious error occurs in the highly sensitive system. For this reason, it is important to keep computing operations as efficient and lean as possible.

Drawing on the example of a quantum simulation, physicists Guido Burkard and Joris Kattemölle from the University of Konstanz illustrate how harnessing symmetry dramatically lowers the computational effort needed: They use recurring patterns in the quantum systems to reduce the required computational effort by a factor of a thousand or more. The method has now been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Microscopic mirrors for future quantum networks: A new way to make high-performance optical resonators

Researchers in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have devised a new way to make some of the smallest, smoothest mirrors ever created for controlling single particles of light, known as photons. These mirrors could play key roles in future quantum computers, quantum networks, integrated lasers, environmental sensing equipment, and more.

A team from the labs of Marko Lončar, the Tiantsai Lin Professor of Electrical Engineering at SEAS; Mikhail Lukin, the Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor in the Department of Physics; and Kiyoul Yang, assistant professor of electrical engineering at SEAS; have described their new method for making high-performance, curved optical mirrors in a study published in Optica.

Using two such mirrors to trap light between them, the team demonstrated state-of-the-art optical resonators that can control light at near-infrared wavelengths, which is important for manipulating single atoms in quantum computing applications.

Triplet superconductivity—physicists may have found the missing link for quantum computers

Many physicists are searching for a triplet superconductor. Indeed, we could all do with one, although we may not know it yet—or understand why. Triplet superconductors could be the key to achieving the most energy-efficient technology in the future.

“A triplet superconductor is high on the wish list of many physicists working in the field of solid state physics,” said Professor Jacob Linder. He works at NTNU’s Department of Physics, more specifically at QuSpin—a research center where physicists grapple with some of the gnarliest questions you can imagine. “Materials that are triplet superconductors are a kind of ‘holy grail’ in quantum technology, and more specifically quantum computing,” explained Linder.

He and his colleagues are now on the trail of this triplet superconductor—much to the excitement of physicists worldwide. “We think we may have observed a triplet superconductor,” said Professor Linder.

New polymer alloy could solve energy storage challenge

In the race for lighter, safer and more efficient electronics—from electric vehicles to transcontinental energy grids—one component literally holds the power: the polymer capacitor. Seen in such applications as medical defibrillators, polymer capacitors are responsible for quick bursts of energy and stabilizing power rather than holding large amounts of energy, as opposed to the slower, steadier energy of a battery.

However, current state-of-the-art polymer capacitors cannot survive beyond 212 degrees Fahrenheit (F), which the air around a typical car engine can hit during summer months and an overworked data center can surpass on any given day.

In Nature, a team led by Penn State researchers reported a novel material made of cheap, commercially available plastics that can handle four times the energy of a typical capacitor at temperatures up to 482 F.

The Genius of Computing with Light

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PsiQuantum are world leaders in the race to utility-scale quantum computing, but they have been shrouded in mystery for over a decade…until now.

Thanks to some good fortune and incredible generosity from the PsiQuantum team I was able to get behind the scenes and see what makes their ground-breaking quantum computer ‘click’

You can see their public paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08820-7

0:00 Silicon Valley’s Most Secretive Quantum Computer.
1:38 A Quantum Computer that runs on Light.
6:03 How to Create a Single Photon.
9:00 How to Build a Quantum Clock.
10:48 Ad Read.
11:54 Detecting Single Photons.
15:00 Creating the Perfect Material.
18:19 How to do math with light.
21:45 How to Build a Scalable Quantum Computer.
24:27 Converting Space to Time.
27:25 The First Photonic Quantum Computer Demonstrator.

PATREON:👨‍🔬 🚀 http://patreon.com/DrBenMiles.

Continue reading “The Genius of Computing with Light” | >

Microsoft can now store data for 10,000 years on everyday glass thanks to laser breakthrough

Breakthrough improvements to Microsoft’s glass-based data-storage technology mean ordinary glassware, such as that used in cookware and oven doors, can store terabytes of data, with the information lasting 10,000 years.

The technology, which has been in development under the “Project Silica” banner since 2019, has seen steady improvements, and scientists outlined the latest innovations today (Feb. 18) in the journal Nature.

Record-breaking photons at telecom wavelengths

A team of researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg led by Prof. Stefanie Barz (University of Stuttgart) has demonstrated a source of single photons that combines on-demand operation with record-high photon quality in the telecommunications C-band—a key step toward scalable photonic quantum computation and quantum communication. “The lack of a high-quality on-demand C-band photon source has been a major problem in quantum optics laboratories for over a decade—our new technology now removes this obstacle,” says Prof. Stefanie Barz.

The key: Identical photons on demand In everyday life, distinguishing features may often be desirable. Few want to be exactly like everyone else. When it comes to quantum technologies, however, complete indistinguishability is the name of the game. Quantum particles such as photons that are identical in all their properties can interfere with each other—much as in noise-canceling headphones, where sound waves that are precisely inverted copies of the incoming noise cancel out the background.

When identical photons are made to act in synchrony, then the probability that certain measurement outcomes occur can be either boosted or decreased. Such quantum effects give rise to powerful new phenomena that lie at the heart of emerging technologies such as quantum computing and quantum networking. For these technologies to become feasible, high-quality interference between photons is essential.

Kirigami-inspired sensors precisely map activity of neurons in the primate brain

Recent technological advances have opened new exciting possibilities for the development of smart prosthetics, such as artificial limbs, joints or organs that can replace injured, damaged or amputated body parts. These same advances are also enabling the development of other systems that connect the brain with machines, to record the activity of neurons or allow humans to operate machines in entirely new ways.

Researchers at the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology in Beijing and other institutes recently developed a new flexible and implantable sensor that can record the activity of neurons in the brain of non-human primates. The sensing device, introduced in a paper published in Nature Electronics, is inspired by kirigami, an artistic discipline that entails the creation of intricate structures by folding and cutting paper in specific ways.

“The development of brain–computer interfaces requires implantable microelectrode arrays that can interface with numerous neurons across large spatial and temporal scales,” wrote Runjiu Fang, Huihui Tian and their colleagues in their paper.

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