<p>Future computers will exploit the mind-bending properties of quantum particles, a mode of computing that relies on quantum bits or qubits, encoding information as ones and zeros. <br />While a bit can represent either a one or a zero, a qubit can represent both one and zero simultaneously, a state known as superposition.<br /><br />This allows for instantaneous processing of calculations in a truly parallel system, skyrocketing computing ability, the journal Nature magazine reports.<br /><br />Using intense magnetic fields, Susumu Takahashi, assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Dornsife College and colleagues managed to suppress decoherence, a key stumbling block in quantum computing.<br /><br />Decoherence, described as a "quantum bug," knocks quantum particle out of superposition, the ability to exist simultaneously in one and zero states, which has delayed the creation of a fully functional quantum computer, says a Southern California release.<br /><br />Researchers figured out that qubits function optimally when decoherence is reduced by 1,000 times, something which crystalline molecular magnets helped Takahashi accomplish.<br />"This will obviously increase signals from the qubit drastically, so the detection of the qubit in the molecular magnets is much easier," Takahashi said.</p>
<p>Future computers will exploit the mind-bending properties of quantum particles, a mode of computing that relies on quantum bits or qubits, encoding information as ones and zeros. <br />While a bit can represent either a one or a zero, a qubit can represent both one and zero simultaneously, a state known as superposition.<br /><br />This allows for instantaneous processing of calculations in a truly parallel system, skyrocketing computing ability, the journal Nature magazine reports.<br /><br />Using intense magnetic fields, Susumu Takahashi, assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Dornsife College and colleagues managed to suppress decoherence, a key stumbling block in quantum computing.<br /><br />Decoherence, described as a "quantum bug," knocks quantum particle out of superposition, the ability to exist simultaneously in one and zero states, which has delayed the creation of a fully functional quantum computer, says a Southern California release.<br /><br />Researchers figured out that qubits function optimally when decoherence is reduced by 1,000 times, something which crystalline molecular magnets helped Takahashi accomplish.<br />"This will obviously increase signals from the qubit drastically, so the detection of the qubit in the molecular magnets is much easier," Takahashi said.</p>