Something like a couple of years ago, a group of scientists made up of three people got them awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics thanks to a work related to the world of superconductors and superfluids where a very detailed explanation appeared and contrasted by other teams of a rather strange new phase of matter.
Since then, despite the great value of this new theory, the truth is that no real applications have been found that can make use of this theory, at least until now, just when a new team made up of members of the University of Stanford (United States) and the University of Sydney (Australia) and Microsoft have succeeded in creating a 1000 times smaller electrical component compared to the version we use today. Undoubtedly we are talking about a new step in the miniaturization of devices that will allow us to continue advancing in computing.
This theory of materials will allow us to make much smaller quantum computers
In case you do not remember why this group of three English researchers managed to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016, tell you, broadly and without going too deep, that their work explained how, under certain conditions, some materials could very easily conduct electrons along its entire surface with the property that these, inside, functioned as a insulation.
The most important thing about all this research was that those in charge of it and the project development with as much value as this one got discover certain cases in which matter transited between different states without breaking its symmetry. To understand this a little better, I propose you an example as simple as the process that occurs just when the water atoms are rearranged into ice or steam.
This theory is essential to reduce the size of different electronic components
To get an idea, tell you that the discovery that finally won the Nobel Prize in 2016, as announced at the time, was going to be essential to reduce the size of electronic components in such a way that finally they quantum computers were going to be able to be manufactured on a scale that would make them useful, one of the problems that this new technology presents today.
Now has been when the team of researchers made up of members of such disparate research and development centers has managed to step forward and literally manufacture an electrical component, baptized with the name of circulator which, as we said before, is about 1000 times smaller to the one used today in the few quantum computers that exist in operation.
This is just a first step to make quantum computing a reality in our day to day
As far as quantum computing is concerned, the truth is that today experts are getting quite good at joining qubits in increasing numbers, the problem is that we still have to work on get the qubits reduced to small enough sizes enough to be able to modify hundreds of thousands at a time in a space that has to be small enough, something that today presents a complete challenge.
To get an idea of the scale at which we are working in this field today, tell you that a circulator is a piece that basically works as a roundabout for electrical signals, thanks to this piece it is possible that the information is directed in a single direction . Until now, smaller versions of this hardware could be stored in the palm of one hand. With this in mind, imagine being able to create a new circulator but up to 1000 times smaller.
Unsurprisingly, the researchers who have managed to create this hardware are not only working on improving its performance, but are already looking for ways to reduce the size of new electronic components.