Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich have developed the first-ever fully functional mechanical qubit. This incredible quantum innovation is a two-in-one system combining the abilities of a mechanical oscillator and a superconducting qubit.
Compared to the traditional virtual qubits that are created using multiple physical qubits and error-correcting codes to protect quantum information, mechanical qubits are real, physical systems that don’t need this extra layer of protection.
This makes mechanical qubits simpler to use because they don’t rely on complex encoding or multiple qubits working together to function reliably. Moreover, mechanical qubits also have much longer lifespans than virtual qubits which pop up and disappear in a blink.
“The longer lifetime of mechanical quantum states should prove useful in establishing quantum acoustics as a platform for enhanced quantum technologies,” the researchers note.
The ETH team suggests that their mechanical qubit could help scientists overcome some of the major hurdles associated with realizing feasible quantum computing and sensing applications.