The world witnessed amazing growth in the internet with the advancement in the connection types used. As of now, fiber internet is the fastest medium with as much as 3000 Mbps speed and immense bandwidth.
This is possible with the use of silicon chips that are used alongside the type of medium for data transfer. Reputed internet companies such as Xfinity Internet offer outclass fiber and cable internet services with great speeds.
However, the focus now is on developing quantum internet with the use of diamonds. Yes, that’s right, diamond crystals can be used for developing long-distance internet connections that will give immense speed for large data transfers. So, what’s it about? We shall be seeing it in this article. Let’s begin:
What is Quantum Internet?
For understanding the concept, we need to see how this concept came into existence. It revolves around the idea of Entanglement. ‘A spooky action at a distance,’ as called by Albert Einstein, entanglement is a concept where diamond crystals can be used for keeping information 3 meters apart.
The measuring state of one quantum bit or qubit will fix the other state in the entanglement, resulting in information exchange that can be used for long-distance data exchange. In other words, diamond crystals can be used for developing a connection that would use entanglement.
How Would Quantum Internet Work?
As highlighted earlier, the quantum internet will use entanglement for transferring data. The phenomenon will take place with the use of entangled photons. These photons would in turn use fiber optics to entangle qubits.
With this, the result would be superfast and secure communication especially used for delivering data and software for quantum computers over long distances. In addition, it’ll be much easier to scale things up in comparison with other forms of connection.
The Use of Flawed Diamonds & Quantum Repeaters
The secret to the process is the generation of photons from quantum light sources. The flawed diamonds or referred to as carbon lattices can be substituted for nitrogen atoms. As a result, qubits can be generated on the spin state of the electrons.
Researchers working on the phenomenon use a laser to entangle qubits at 10-kelvin temperature. However, it’s imperative that these should be collected within fiber optic cables where they entangle themselves.
Although the process isn’t efficient as regarded by many, still, it can produce great results. Especially in the case of building quantum repeaters. Quantum repeaters would allow transferring of data over long distances via quantum communications.
Fiber optic absorbs the light and further boosting the speed would destroy the entanglement. Hence, using quantum repeaters would prevent this instance, allowing photon-based entanglement to stay linked even over long distances.
The Process of Generating Photons
The photons are created using diamond nanostructures via the process of sophisticated nanofabrication. Using experimental-specific protocols, researchers were able to minimize the noise of the electrons, which previously, disturbed data transmission.
In addition, photons were emitted with a stable frequency, and the communication rate can be increased significantly up to 1000 folds. 1000 times thinner than human hair, the diamond nanostructures are used to transfer photons in a directed manner into glass fibers.
Previously, the material surface was damaged at the atomic level during fabrication, increasing electron noise and distortion. However, with diamonds, the high density of nitrogen shields the generated light particles, resulting in successful quantum entanglement.
Why Not Use Ion and Atom Systems?
Apart from using flawed diamonds, ion, and atom systems are also considered options. These are more advanced, having a record of 14 entangled qubits. However, for the system to work, the ions need to be trapped in a vacuum.
But in the case of diamonds, researchers observed significant advantages that deemed the process efficient. For starters, unlike the ion system, qubits can easily be maintained at room temperature.
This happens because of the carbon lattice, as explained earlier, which shields the photons from magnetic fields or vibrations. In addition, researchers also noted that any diamond vacancy qubits can be transferred to any neighboring nuclei of carbon or nitrogen atoms.
Hence, it would create an array of memory qubits that would exist for seconds, even though the diamond vacancy qubits only exist for 10 ms. In other words, the existence of these qubits in seconds would be relevant to an eternity in terms of quantum computing.
Apart from this, creating hundreds of ion traps for the process is difficult. Rather, the creation of solid diamond chip assemblies is far easier and more approachable for the process.
Future Applications
The conclusion drawn from the experiments illustrates the feasibility of diamonds for helping create quantum computers. However, further study and assessment of the physical processes are required for developing and implementing the observations and conclusions drawn from the said experiments into practical stages.
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