# A major breakthrough in quantum computing: scientists realize a 512 qubit neutral atomic system

By [PalmerSherry](https://paragraph.com/@palmersherry) · 2022-04-13

---

Recently, scientists have made a major breakthrough in the field of neutral atom quantum computing, and realized a two element atomic hybrid array with 512 qubits for the first time.

It is understood that qubits, as the basic components of quantum computers, can be made by different technologies. One of these technologies is the use of lasers to capture neutral atoms to create qubits, which won the Nobel Prize in 2018. The neutral monatomic system with controllable interaction and long coherence time has the advantage of large-scale integration of thousands of qubits in an area of 1 mm2. It is a powerful candidate for quantum simulation and quantum computing.

Previously, the neutral atomic system used in quantum computing was limited to a single atomic element array. However, because each atom in the array has the same characteristics, it is extremely difficult to measure a single atom without interfering with adjacent atoms.

This time, the team led by Hannes bernien, an assistant professor at the Pritzker School of molecular engineering at the University of Chicago, created a two element neutral atom array composed of rubidium and cesium atoms, which can control each atom independently, and realized the first medium atomic system composed of 512 qubits. This research has significantly broadened the potential application of neutral atomic system in quantum technology. The relevant results were recently published in Physical Review X.

At present, the quantum computers of Google and IBM are composed of superconducting circuits, with only about 130 qubits. Although the equipment of the University of Chicago team is not a quantum computer, the quantum computer made of atomic array will be easier to expand the scale and bring some new breakthroughs.

In a hybrid array composed of atoms of two different elements, two adjacent atoms can be different elements with completely different frequencies. This makes it easier for researchers to measure and manipulate individual atoms without interference from surrounding atoms. The University of Chicago team used 512 optical tweezers to capture 256 rubidium atoms and 256 cesium atoms, and observed that the interference between the two elements can be ignored.

This research result will contribute to many aspects of research, including quantum non-destructive measurement, quantum error correction, and continuously running quantum processors and sensors.

“When you do these experiments with a single atom, at some point, you will lose atoms, and then you often have to initialize the system, first create a new cold atom cloud, and wait for the single atom to be captured by the laser again.” Bernien said, “our hybrid design can experiment with these elements separately. We can experiment with one element atom, refresh another element atom at the same time, and then switch over, so that we always have available qubits.”

The hybrid nature of this atomic array also opens the door to many applications that cannot be realized by a single element atom. For example, the two elements in this study are independently controllable, so one element atom can be used as quantum memory and the other element atom can be used for quantum computing, playing the roles of RAM (random access memory) and CPU (central processing unit) of the computer respectively. “Our work has inspired theorists to think about new quantum protocols for this, which is exactly what I expect,” bernien said

---

*Originally published on [PalmerSherry](https://paragraph.com/@palmersherry/a-major-breakthrough-in-quantum-computing-scientists-realize-a-512-qubit-neutral-atomic-system)*