Quantum data storage record claimed by Australian team
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Australian scientists developing a prototype quantum hard drive say they have improved storage time by a factor of more than 100. Manjin Zhong, from the Research School of Physics and Engineering (RSPE) at The Australian National University (ANU), said: "Quantum states are very fragile and normally collapse in milliseconds. Our storage times have the potential to revolutionise the transmission of quantum
information."
The team of physicists at ANU and the University of Otago stored information for six hours by writing a quantum state onto the nuclear spin of a europium atom using laser light, then subjecting the crystal to a combination of a fixed and oscillating magnetic fields to preserve the information. "The two fields isolate the europium spins and prevent the quantum information leaking away," explained Dr Jevon Longdell of the University of Otago.
Zhong added: "We can now imagine storing entangled light in separate crystals and then transporting them to different parts of the network thousands of kilometres apart. So, we are thinking of our crystals as portable optical hard drives for quantum entanglement."
This will allow the group to undertake fundamental tests of quantum mechanics. "We have never before had the possibility to explore quantum entanglement over such long distances," said associate Professor Matthew Sellars. "We should always be looking to test whether our theories match up with reality. Maybe in this new regime our theory of quantum mechanics breaks."
