A Quantum Era: Scientists Now Closer to Instantaneous Information Transfer Between Matter and Light

Scientists are getting closer to a breakthrough in quantum technology -- one where the transfer of information via quantum principles makes the process almost instantaneous.

Scientists from the Polytechnique Montreal and France's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) have brought the world closer to a time when information can now be transferred instantaneously. 

According to Science Daily, a paper published in Physical Review Letters has documented the creation of a qubit in zinc selenide that makes it possible to produce an interface between quantum physics and the transfer of information at the speed of light.

This makes it possible to produce quantum communication networks.

Zinc selenide is a well-known semiconductor material. Meanwhile, the merge of quantum physics and light speed means being able to transfer information at levels on a nanometer scale.

Sadly, some problems still arise in how computers deal with modern computations. Today's computers still tackle problems in the realm of classical physics. This means billions of electrons make up bits and bytes of information around the globe. However, in quantum physics, the electron is representative of everything because it can take any value between 0 and 1 at the same time.

This is the qubit, which is the quantum equivalent of the classical bit, and it offers quite the stunning possibility for researchers.

Electron revolves around itself - or a spin. Applying a magnetic field changes the direction of the spin, making a qubit. They are intrinsically fragile quantum creatures, and therefore need special environments.

Zinc selenide (ZnSe) is a crystal which has very precise atoms. It's a semiconductor that allows the introduction of tellurium impurities which can trap electrons. This maintains the special environment qubits need in order to function.

The scientists from Polytechnique Montreal and CNRS were able to use photons from a laser to interact with the ZnSe and record information on a quantum level. He retrieves the information by interacting with the environment once more to "collect" the photons. 

Scientist Philippe St-Jean and Sebastien Francoeur are leading the team. 

The result is a "quantum" transfer of energy at the level of the qubit, or in this case, a photon, that can travel at the speed of light.

This research makes it possible to create a qubit that is faster than the methods commonly conceived today. This is important as a few hundred picoseconds -- or less than a billionth of a second -- can make moving or static qubits.

Of course, given the potential usage of such a technology, it's still important to make a stable environment before quantum computers are able to interact with each other properly.