Diamonds Key To Quantum Computing

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Scientists P. Neumann, N. Mizuochi & co. have advanced quantum computing by finding a new method to get two-way and three-way, high quality quantum correlations that persist for hundreds or thousands of microseconds, even at room temperature. Their paper (subscription required) describes how they manipulated electrons from nitrogen vacancies in diamond using microwaves to entangle adjacent carbon-13 nuclei. Even better, this builds on previous results which indicate that diamonds with nitrogen impurities may be the key to creating useful quantum computing devices. The article provides a good description of what nitrogen vacancies are and why they prove useful."

Re:

[drolli]

O wow! how qualified! You know, i may be only 33 but i remember very well what people educated in the 60ties (e.g. Teachers, Engineers) told me when i was a child how transistors could NEVER replace tubes for certain applications (e.g. High power). Yea right. We see that now..... I work in the QC field, and we will not see any really working quantum computer doing any non-trivial task (i personally dont count dwaves "thermally assisted adiabatic QC" as one) the next 15 Years and after that it may take 30 Y

Re:

[drolli]

> QC is based on a stupid conjecture (the Copenhagen interpretation of QM) that can never be observed
Excuse me. QC is NOT based on the Copenhagen interpretation. If you dont understand that in a real experiment you have to split the Copenhagen interpreation into two parts. 1) The measurement process, during which you create a 'split' in the space of possivle paths which separates your systems more and more, while introdusing the coupling a way that you replace one of the conjugate variables by your

Re:

[drolli]

Please do me a favor and read the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretation_of_quantum_mechanics#The_Copenhagen_interpretation [wikipedia.org] As it is said the Copenhagen interpretation is only an interpretation that we see QM systems in the way we see them. There are other approaches and as many people in the field and many who understood parts of Legget's work (and many other great people in the beginning of the 80s) I am not a fan of any theory requiring a wavefunction collapse or a concious observer rol

Re:

[ScottKin]

Wow - do we now have a possible competitor to DWave's process trying to create FUD and deception as AC posts in a very thought-provoking thread?

What has the world come to?....oh, wait - what was I thinking; this is Slashdot, where AC posts are the most common (and sadly the most effective) method of generating thread-drift. It's true that most AC posts can be quite funny, so I'm not at the point of adjusting my threshold settings quite yet and I am aware of replying to a AC post is like arguing with someone

How nice....

[Darkness404]

How nice now... The first quantum computer on the market will have to use diamonds.... So what will that mean? A $8 million price tag?

Re:How nice....

[Majik Sheff]

No, actually nitrogen impurities are the one thing keeping synthetic diamonds out of the jewelry market right now. Nitrogen turns diamonds a canary yellow, which can be considered desirable in fancy grades but is hardly desirable in the fiery rock category. Info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_diamond [wikipedia.org]

Re:How nice....

[Majik Sheff]

Oops, better picture here:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html [wired.com]

Re:

[physman_wiu]

Man that reads like a novel!

Re:

[ndogg]

Really? D.NEA [neadiamonds.com] seems to be doing fairly well in that market, and they seem more than capable of making white diamonds, which requires almost complete purity.

And they're not the only ones in the market either.

Re:

[Oktober Sunset]

Did he?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

How nice now... The first quantum computer on the market will have to use diamonds.... So what will that mean? A $8 million price tag?

I would assume they would use man-made diamonds, there cheaper, purer and better formed than naturally occurring diamonds.

The only value in natural diamonds over man made diamonds is "i have something you can't afford" [snob value]

Re:Lab Made Diamonds

[hkmarks]

Natural diamonds are much more abundant than they'd have you believe. There's an artificial scarcity. Large, high quality diamonds are pretty rare, but there are plenty of small ones (enough to make tools out of them, and enough that diamond jewelery has next to no resale value.) The markup on new diamonds is huge and the supply chain is narrow.

Anyhow, isn't this whole thing the plot of the First Wave episode "The Apostles"? Except possibly without aliens? And probably fewer biker gangs?

Re:Lab Made Diamonds

[De Lemming]

Some more info:

• Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? [theatlantic.com] - the classic Atlantic article about the De Beers Diamond cartel.
• Ten reasons why you should never accept a diamond ring [fguide.org]

Re:Lab Made Diamonds

[Kjella]

As much as it's a cartel and as much as logic says otherwise, I'd easily get a diamond ring if she was so inclined. Believe it or not, for many that is as much a part of the marriage ceremony as the white dress, wows and all that. "A diamond is forever" is quite frankly probably the single best marketing slogan in history. There's rubies and saphires and emeralds and many other gemstones, but it placed diamonds in a category of its own and at the same time it exploits your own insecurity. No matter how much you think this is marketing BS from de Beers, she might not. Unless you're really, really sure she won't think you're cheap or sending subliminal messages or whatnot I'd just get the ring and eat that feeling of having been suckered. There's a time and place to take your battles in a marriage, and I think de Beers know damn well they picked one of those where it's not.

Re:Lab Made Diamonds

[UrinalPooper]

I just can't see spending the rest of my life with someone who is that susceptible to advertising. Even if she's physically attractive, that much dumb strikes me as being a worse kind of ugly.

Re:

[Taibhsear]

The only diamonds I'd give a girl would be on the edge of a cutting disc or drill bit. Chicks with powertools >> chicks with jewelry.

Re:Lab Made Diamonds

[colinrichardday]

as much a part of the marriage ceremony as the white dress, wows and all that.

This is Slashdot.

Re:

[story645]

Why do you think she'd want it so much if she really knew what it was all about? The media has made a pretty big deal about war diamonds in the past couple of years, and there are all sorts of new age movements centered around cleaner/greener/simpler lifestyles. *shrugs* Why not try to sell her on the idea that the wedding band is the only ring that really matters anyway?

Re:

[SomeoneGotMyNick]

My Wife has one diamond ring (a 1/10 carat engagement ring) and a 2 ct. tw. tennis bracelet.

I wouldn't want to marry someone who's materialistic to the point that a 1/10 carat real diamond isn't enough to carry tradition. The diamond tennis bracelet was a gift purchased from a windfall of income.

She likes the nice look of a diamond or CZ. In fact, she'd prefer a 2 ct. CZ over a 1/4 ct. real diamond because it looks better for a much lower price.

De Beers may have started a nice tradition with diamonds, but t

Don't Marry A Girl Who'd Check

[RexDevious]

The girl I marry will either be:

A)A gorgeous airhead blonde who won't know that fake diamonds exist.
B)A classy girl who knows that buying real diamonds hurts lots of people and wouldn't want one.
C)Someone in between, who has me so whipped that I'd buy her a ring made out of my own spleen, and Microsoft Quality Assurance Licence (40 seat Enterprise version) to boot.

With any luck, constant programming will either ruin my eyesight to the point where option B becomes realistic, or result in the creation of a re

Re:

[flajann]

Well, for me, that "Diamonds are forever" crap is just that. Diamonds may be "forever", but marriages certainly are not. This divorce I am going through is the most challenging thing in my life, and I've had some pretty nasty challenges. She is trying to take me for every penny and rape me financially. And it all began 16 years ago witht he purchase of that diamond ring.

My cynicism aside, jewerly in general is woefully overrated, with HUGH markups. Kind of a shame, because you'd think they'd make great in

Best Friend

[Sen.NullProcPntr]

So now diamonds are a supercomputer's best friend?

Re:

[Hasmanean]

No, diamonds are a nerd's best friend.

Wait until DeBeers hears about this.

[lord_nimula]

"Quantum diamonds are forever. Or are they?" --Lord Nimula

Diamonds are...

[TheMiddleRoad]

... for hundreds of thousands of microseconds.

Re:

[Barryke]

Actually what is said was "quantum correlations that persist for hundreds or thousands of microseconds," and i beleive someone forgot that thousands is actually less than hundreds, seen how the sentence was build in this context.

Re:

[TheMiddleRoad]

I stand corrected. I should have said, "Diamonds are for hundreds or thousands of nubile women.

Re:

[GigaplexNZ]

Thousands is more than hundreds. It is thousandths that is less than hundredths.

Obligatory SchrÃdinger's cat joke

[FilterMapReduce]

"Quantum diamonds are forever. Or are they?" --Lord Nimula

Quantum diamonds are both forever and temporary until their wave functions collapse.

Re:Why diamonds?

[$RANDOMLUSER]

From TFA:

Carbon, the element which forms diamond, has four electrons available for bonding. To form diamond, the carbon atoms form a tetrahedral shape, where each carbon has four carbon neighbors, positioned evenly around the central atom. These atoms then share electrons, forming a very strong bond. If nitrogen is added during the formation of diamond, then some of the carbon positions will be taken by nitrogen. However, nitrogen has only three electrons available for bonding. Thus, every nitrogen atom is associated with a missing atom ^W electron in the tetrahedral. This imbalance leads to a very interesting situation, in which each vacancy is associated with a pair of electrons. In this case, the hardness of diamond is helpful because the atomic cores cannot move much, which helps preserve the quantum state of the electrons and nucleus. These robust quantum states are a necessary first step towards obtaining quantum computation.

Forehead whapping correction mine.

The whole notion isn't that different from doped silicon.

Re:Why diamonds?

[arktemplar]

Well I'm not sure about that, but there is an interesting co-incidence here, silicon is in the 4th group, and so is diamond(carbon).

  electrical(electronics) computers -> silicon
Quantum computers -> Diamonds (carbon)

we need to add impurities to silicon to get it to work the way we want it, these guys are adding impurities to carbon to get it to act the way they want.

The resemblance may be superficial but it is there, nature is symmetric after all.

Re:

[colinrichardday]

Diamonds are formed by tetrahedrally bonded carbon atoms. Tetrahedrally bonded silicon atoms form quartz, which I do not believe is used much in computing equipment.

Re:

[arktemplar]

Agreed, which is why I said superficial.

Re:

[GigaplexNZ]

It isn't a coincidence. It is standard semiconductor physics. You can mix an element from the 3rd group with an element from the 5th group together to make semiconductors as well, such as GaAs. Different types of dopant (impurities) determine whether the semiconductor is n-type or p-type. In this case, the Nitrogen atoms have an extra valence electron than Carbon creating an n-type doped semiconductor. Diamond would probably make a decent semiconductor for conventional computers as well, but it is far more

Re:

[arktemplar]

Like your Sibling post had said, Diamond is tetrahedrally bonded carbon, it doesn't have that extra electron that makes 'graphite' a good conductor. Diamond here is not being used as a semiconductor from what I have understood (why I feel it cannot be used as one, not being one after all - I have written later).

You are correct about mixing 3rd group with 5th group but diamond (Carbon) is 4th group. notice however that you can mix 4th group with 5th group to give you your n type, which I already said still r

A Professor of mine once said

[bperkins]

Diamond computers.
Who cares if they work? People will buy them anyway.

A faster PET in sight?

[foobsr]

From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]: "LifeGem is the world's first company offering to synthesize diamonds from the carbonized remains of people or pets."

Just another possibility for useful recycling.

CC.

Re:

[jmp]

Maybe too obscure, foobsr. Only us old farts remember what a PET [commodore.ca] is. Kids these days...

dilithium crystals

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they should try with dilithium crystals.

I know where to get those Diamonds

[Oktober Sunset]

Ok, you go get all the high tech expedition stuff, and I'll teach the gorilla sign language, then lets go get em!

But do NOT pack any damned shaped charges!

Re:

[Foo2rama]

2nded and the first thing I thought when I saw this. Does this mean MC is right about other things???

Control crystals?

[DustoneGT]

We need to figure out how to make our control crystals less susceptible to Zat'n'ktel fire and resistant to staff blasts before production.

Oh, and we might need to consider locking the compartments that hold our control crystals...

Diamonds are ..

[roguegramma]

When diamonds are a nerds best friend.

How much Gold...

[Tr0mBoNe-]

is in my laptop? They could also make these artificially, putting in the precise concentration and distribution of nitrogen. All I heard was 'Quantum Computer' and 'persists for a real amount of time' and 'room temperature.'

Re: Their paper (subscription required)

[presidenteloco]

Science should be done with free, open sharing of the results, so that anyone, anywhere, can read the details and possibly come up with the next idea.

These subscription journals are holding back science.

The service of organizing peer-review is logically independent
of whether something is in a limited distribution paid, paper
journal. Sell google ads on the things if you must, dammit.

I know its a bit offtopic but it pisses me off royally.

Science is above all else about building shared knowledge.
Period. If you're putting your findings behind firewalls,
you are harming science.

Re:

[HungSoLow]

I agree with you entirely. But note that while you are a graduate student (and undergrad too in most cases) you have access to 99.99% of all Journals through your universities resources (library, and online in my case). This is how it is in Canada anyway. I find it strange in general that they charge money. It must be for the corporations that have no academic ties and can afford to fork over the money. Anyway, information wants to be free. As far as I'm concerned, education should be free from Grade 1

Re:

[mikael]

If you google search hard enough, you can usually find these papers free of charge from the originating university, either in the author's own website, or from a departmental archive.

I'm at an university, and even with a free Athens login from the campus library, our university still doesn't have a subscription to one or two of these companies. Basically, the subscription managers at the library will get a free trial or purchase a 1 years license with one of these companies. If enough papers are referenced

Re:

[mikael]

That's the tricky part of running a research group - you want to publish your results in order get enough citations/references in other papers, in order to get further funding. But if you give away too much information, someone else can just set up a competing research department and take away your funding, so you end up having to start from scratch again.

So your survival tactic is to create a research group as large as possible to keep up the production of papers and the number of directions you can go i

Re:

[jnnnnn]

However, it costs (according to Physical Review) more than $1000 to publish an article. There is a lot of typesetting, they might pay reviewers, and they have to be reliable.
Everyone at a university gets free access to the articles anyway, through their library proxy.
I've just written an assignment on a Phys. Rev article, actually, and did you know that you can now pay ~$1300 and make an article public?

Re:

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

Well yeah, we'd all like stuff to be free. Why should science be treated so specially in this regard?

Re:

[rootooftheworld]

rock on!

I for one...

[Ihmhi]

...am looking forward to quantum computing. This way, my system files on Windows will both have a rootkit and not have a rootkit at the same time!

Re:

[Gazzonyx]

...am looking forward to quantum computing. This way, my system files on Windows will both have a rootkit and not have a rootkit at the same time!

Yeah, but you won't know which until you check...

Re:I for one... ...a question of perspective only.

[Ox0065]

As with all things Quantum, its a model of what could be known.
My Mum has already achieved what you're after

Mom "but it didn't have a virus before you looked at it!"
I "did it take 30 mins to boot?"
Mom "yes, but it didn't have any virus"

seen it before...

[kinocho]

Can someone please tag this as "Zardoz" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070948/ [imdb.com]?

Thanks

Quantum computing on a budget?

[Duncan Blackthorne]

Could you please build my quantum computer with cubic zirconia instead? I'm kinda on a tight budget. :-/

Glam Rocks?

[Easy2RememberNick]

...and the era of Glam Computing begins.

Just one piece of the puzzle

[bh_doc]

The last paragraph of TFA is notable:

Provided the qubit state can be transfered to photonic qubits, then it should be possible to scale the entanglement up so that it can involve more than a single nitrogen vacancy "having the entanglement lasts for milliseconds helps in this regard. Furthermore, qubits based on nitrogen vacancies aren't too hard to scale, since it is a solid-state material "no vacuum pumps required, thank you very much. Finally, the longevity of the entanglement should also enable the dev

Finally One For The Fellas

[benhattman]

If this had happened a few years ago when I got married, I would have had reason to demand a diamond as well. "But I want to do quantum calculations really really bad!"

Of course, 3 mos her salary vs 3 mos my salary would have bought me about as much diamond quantum computing as I got at the time anyways. Se la vi.