Today a partnership between PASQAL, Pixel Photonics, Sorbonne Université, The Institute of Photonic Sciences, and Institut d’Optique Théorique et Appliquée has successfully won a grant from European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder to build the essential foundations for a quantum computer powered by neutral atom technology.
Coordinated by the Multimode Quantum Optics group, at Sorbonne Université, the collaboration will develop the foundations of a quantum processor through the interaction between quantum of light — or photons — with a specially ordered assembly of neutral atoms.
It will use light as the carrier of quantum information, using an approach known as continuous variable quantum computing. It relies on the wave-like nature of light rather than discrete quantum bits associated with the particle behaviour.
Light can carry large amounts of information over long distances with low loss rates, operating at room temperature.
These properties make light a great candidate for scalable quantum computers. However, photons, the particles of light, do not interact with each other naturally, a feature that represents a big challenge in building quantum processing units, since interactions are required to carry out operations and create quantum circuits.