FUTURE COMPUTER: ATOMS PACKED IN AN “EGG CARTON” OF LIGHT?These images depict an experiment underway at Ohio State University, where physicists are attempting to develop a quantum chip -- a computer chip that uses the quantum mechanical properties of atoms to perform calculations. |
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| In the first part of the experiment, lasers and magnetic fields capture vaporized rubidium atoms and form them into a pea-sized cloud. |
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| The device holding the cloud then slides down a track to move the atoms into position above a glass chip. |
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| Then the magnetic fields are then shut off, releasing the atoms, which fall onto a surface of laser light. |
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| Animation produced by the Ohio Supercomputer Center under agreement with the Department of University Relations, courtesy of Ohio State University .
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