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Chinese Scientists Make Breakthrough in Quantum Computing

Diamonds are for error: Chinese team clear ‘error’ hurdle to pave way for quantum computer that could make geniuses of us all

Scientists create world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer in piece of precious mineral, say nation could have first one for commercial use within a decade.

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 09 December, 2015, 1:00pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 09 December, 2015, 1:00pm

Stephen Chen


The Chinese team have created a new quantum computing system in diamond which they say can continue operating properly in the event of the failure of one or more qubits. A qubit (quantum bit) is how such computers see and store information. The development of quantum computers has been handicapped by two key errors they often encounter that make their results unreliable. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Chinese scientists have built the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer in a piece of diamond and it will eventually be able to find - in the blink of an eye - passwords and other encrypted information that regular computers need years or decades to uncover, they said.

As such, the breakthrough, coupled with other technological advances over the last few years by companies such as IBM, led the team to make a bold and unsettling prediction: The nation’s first quantum computer should be ready for commercial use within a decade.

These are able to sort through huge reams of data to solve complex problems at a much faster rate than traditional computers, but their development has been handicapped by key errors they encounter.

A team of researchers at IBM cleared one of these hurdles in May by building a four-qubit network they said can detect the two most troublesome quantum errors: Bit-flip errors

(when bits change values due to interference) and phase errors (here, the sign of the phase relationship between 0 and 1 can flip when in a superposition state).

Regular computers contend with errors of the first kind but not the second, which are harder to detect and fix.

It was previously not considered possible to deal with both errors at the same time, something required for quantum computers to work properly.

The IBM team solved this problem using a phenomenon called entanglement, by which qubits can nearly instantaneously share information with other qubits.


China also plans to launch the world’s first quantum communication satellite next year. It will encrypt information with quantum mechanics so that even a quantum computer cannot, in theory, decipher the content. Photo: SCMP Pictures


Qubits are the main data components used in quantum computers. Whereas other machines see information in the form of bits that carry a value of 1 or 0, quantum computers see qubits - single atoms that can be 1, 0 or both at the same time due to a phenomenon known as quantum superposition.

READ MORE: New ‘phantom particle’ discovered by Chinese scientists could mean you only need to charge your smartphone once a year

This is what enables them to conduct many more calculations simultaneously than binary computers.

Now a group of local researchers led by Professor Du Jiangfeng at the University of Science and Technology of China have created a new system which, they say, can continue operating properly in the event of the failure of one or more qubits.

They published their findings in a recent paper in the journal Nature Communications.

Their quantum computing system can operate at room temperature because it is hosted in parts of a diamond lacking in nitrogen, they reported.

While such systems would ordinarily require a climate-controlled lab, the team’s finding paves the way for such computers to operate safely in regular buildings, they said.

Quantum computers were considered a distant dream by most scientists as recently as two or three years ago. Many expected it would take decades before they could be put to practical use due to the bewildering array of unsolved technical challenges.

One of these was the unstable nature of qubits, which can make their results unreliable. Other problems relate to the storage, transportation and manipulation of quantum data.

But a series of recent advances have sparked a new sense of optimism among the mainstream scientific community.

Some commercial systems built to exploit properties of quantum mechanics for special calculations have been developed and purchased by high-profile users such as Lockheed Martin and Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States.


Pan Jianwei. Photo: SCMP Pictures


Prototypes of “quantum chips” have been developed using various platforms including superconductive materials and even traditional silicon by scientists at universities and companies such as IBM.

The Chinese team opted to use diamond.

Pan Jianwei, a lead scientist in the field of quantum computing who works at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told local media earlier this year that the academy was hoping to build a quantum super computer in the next 10 to 15 years.

Such a computer has the potential to change the world by operating at speeds that are 10 quadrillion times faster than current super computers, Pan said.

If created, this would bestow on each Chinese citizen the “exclusive calculation power equivalent to several hundred million units of Tianhe-2,” he said, referring to the country’s fastest super computer.

The upbeat mood in this field has attracted many private Chinese investors.

READ MORE: Hong Kong start-up developing quantum computing solutions for banking and finance

In July, e-commerce giant Alibaba invested US$1 billion in Pan’s quantum super computer project in hope of exploiting the technology for commercial use, such as improving the performance and security of its cloud service.

The first goal of the joint venture was to build a 16-qubit system with a performance equivalent to that of Tianhe-2 by the end of this year.

The work by Du’s team has removed a major obstacle towards producing a quantum computer for practical use, according to Professor Yu Yang, a quantum computing scientist at Nanjing University’s School of Physics in eastern China’s Jiangsu province.

“We are now a step closer to bringing the quantum computer from science fiction to real life,” said Yu, who was aware of but not involved in the research.

Du’s team developed an ingenious method to reduce the noise plaguing the diamond-based system, which significantly improved the system’s reliability, they claimed.

But the work also revealed more challenges in the road ahead.

For instance, the fault-tolerant performance could only be achieved with one qubit. When two qubits were involved, the system’s reliability dropped significantly, they said.

It is crucial to maintain a high level of reliability as more qubits are added because these enhance the overall computing power.

The use of diamond as a host material also has its limits, Yu said, as many qubits would be needed to power quantum computers.

“This would be one ‘jewelry box’ most users couldn’t afford,” he said.

Diamonds are for error: Chinese team clear ‘error’ hurdle to pave way for quantum computer that could make geniuses of us all | South China Morning Post
 
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Bravo! China is quickly becoming the world leader in super computing and quantum computing.

To haters I have to say: No worries, you may continue to take comfort in believing we "copied and pasted" all that easy stuff:D
 
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Well, it's mighty expensive to build a QC in diamonds, the Aussie done this on sand, I reckon the sand principal is a lot more forthcoming as sand worth next to nothing but retain the same material properties with diamonds

World's First Silicon Quantum Logic Gate Brings Quantum Computing One Step Closer

Now u can sent message to your mistress without fear, your wife cannot hack it! :enjoy:

that's not how it work at all.....

In fact, if your wife also have a quantum computer, it's a lot easier for her to hack your phone...
 
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Well, it's mighty expensive to build a QC in diamonds, the Aussie done this on sand, I reckon the sand principal is a lot more forthcoming as sand worth next to nothing but retain the same material properties with diamonds

World's First Silicon Quantum Logic Gate Brings Quantum Computing One Step Closer



that's not how it work at all.....

In fact, if your wife also have a quantum computer, it's a lot easier for her to hack your phone...

1. Electronics grade silicon is pretty far away from sand.
2. That's a single logic gate. The difference between a working quantum computer or even a simple device, and a single logic gate, is the difference between a single transistor and a microprocessor.
3. There's multiple types of quantum computers with both electronic and optical readouts. The advantage of optical readout is that it is temperature independent while electronic readouts are not. Most electronic readouts need cooling to extremely low temperatures.
 
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1. Electronics grade silicon is pretty far away from sand.
2. That's a single logic gate. The difference between a working quantum computer or even a simple device, and a single logic gate, is the difference between a single transistor and a microprocessor.
3. There's multiple types of quantum computers with both electronic and optical readouts. The advantage of optical readout is that it is temperature independent while electronic readouts are not. Most electronic readouts need cooling to extremely low temperatures.

1.) I know, but do you also knows what build off silicon? Modern Microprocessor. The facilities to refine IC grade Silicon has already in place, you don't need to pay for it again, that's the point.

2.) Dude, this is THE FIRST logic gate build with qubits. The technology is still in its infancy, and anything was build by the first step. Let me ask you this, without the technology to build a single transistor, can you build a microprocessor?

3.) There are a few thing Quantum Computer are currently being build on, and so far no working solution (only theoretical solution) were available. It could be better for building it on Silicon, or building it on a Carbon fibre or on diamond, these is parallel development, I will refrain from saying which one is the best as no one actually know what's ahead. Let just say we all going on a different direction.
 
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Double quantum-teleportation milestone is Physics World 2015 Breakthrough of the Year

Dec 11, 2015

The Physics World 2015 Breakthrough of the Year goes to Jian-Wei Pan and Chaoyang Lu of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, for being the first to achieve the simultaneous quantum teleportation of two inherent properties of a fundamental particle – the photon. Nine other achievements are highly commended and cover topics ranging from astronomy to medical physics


Quantum teleporters: Chaoyang Lu (left) and Jian-Wei Pan win thePhysics World 2015 Breakthrough of the Year

Synonymous with the fictional world of Star Trek, the idea of teleportation has intrigued scientists and the public alike. Reality caught up with fiction in 1993, when an international group of physicists proved theoretically that the teleportation of a quantum state is entirely possible, so long as the original state being copied is destroyed. Successfully teleporting a quantum state therefore involves making a precise measurement of a system, transmitting the information to a distant location and then reconstructing a flawless copy of the original state. As the "no cloning" theorem of quantum mechanics does not allow for a perfect copy of a quantum state to be made, it must be completely transferred from one particle onto another, such that the first particle is no longer in that state.

Complete and perfect

In other words, a complete and perfect transfer is completed when the first particle loses all of the properties that are teleported to the other. The first experimental teleportation of the spin of a photon was achieved in 1997, and since then, everything from individual states of atomic spins, coherent light fields and other entities have been transferred. But all of these experiments were limited to teleporting a single property, and scaling that up to even two properties has proved a herculean feat.

Pan and Lu's team has now simultaneously transferred a photon's spin (polarization) and its orbital angular momentum (OAM) to another photon some distance away. Teleportation experiments usually require a "quantum channel" via which the transfer actually takes place. This channel is normally an extra set of "entangled" photons with quantum states that are inextricably linked so that any change made to one instantly influences the other. In this experiment, this is a "hyper-entangled" set, where the two particles are simultaneously entangled in both their spin and their OAM (see "Two quantum properties teleported together for first time").

Although it is possible to extend Pan's method to teleport more than two properties simultaneously, this becomes increasingly difficult with each added property – the likely limit is three. To do this would require the ability to experimentally control 10 photons, while the current record is eight. The team is currently working hard to change that though, and Pan says that they "hope to reach 10-photon entanglement in a few months". An alternate method that is also being developed could allow the team to double that figure to 20 within three years. "We should be able to teleport three degrees of freedom of a single photon or multiple photons soon," he adds.

The ability to teleport multiple states simultaneously is essential to fully describe a quantum particle, and is a tentative step towards teleporting anything larger than a quantum particle. Pan adds that "quantum teleportation has been recognized as a key element in the ongoing development of long-distance quantum communications that provide unbreakable security, ultrafast quantum computers and quantum networks".

• Watch our Google+ Hangout, where physicsworld.com editor Hamish Johnston talks with Pan and Lu about all things quantum

The top 10 were chosen by a panel of six Physics World editors and reporters, and the criteria for judging the top-10 breakthroughs included
  • fundamental importance of research;
  • significant advance in knowledge;
  • strong connection between theory and experiment; and
  • general interest to all physicists.
Now for our nine runner-up breakthroughs, which are listed below in no particular order.

Cyclotron radiation from a single electron is measured for the first time


Winner's circle: Project 8 looks at radiation of individual electrons

To the Project 8 collaboration, for measuring the cyclotron radiation from individual electrons emitted during the beta decay of krypton-83. This radiation is emitted as the electron passes through a magnetic field, and allows the team to make a very precise measurement of the energy at which the particle is emitted. Project 8 is now working hard to improve the precision of the measurement so it can be used to calculate one of the most elusive quantities in physics – the mass of the electron antineutrino that is also given off during the beta decay.

Weyl fermions are spotted at long last

To Zahid Hasan of Princeton University, Marin Soljačić of MIT, and Zhong Fang and Hongming Weng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for their pioneering work on Weyl fermions. These massless particles were predicted by the German mathematician Hermann Weyl in 1929. Working independently, a team led by Hasan, and another led by Fang and Weng, spotted telltale evidence for quasiparticles that behave as Weyl fermions in the semimetal tantalum arsenide. Soljačić and colleagues have spotted evidence for Weyl fermions in a very different material – a "double-gyroid" photonic crystal. The massless nature of Weyl fermions means that they could be used in high-speed electronics; and because they are topologically protected from scattering, they could be useful in quantum computers.

Physicists claim 'loophole-free' Bell-violation experiment


Bell ringers: Bas Hensen (left) and Ronald Hanson adjusting the Bell test set-up

To Bas Hensen, Ronald Hanson and colleagues of the Delft University of Technology, for making a measurement of Bell's inequality that is simultaneously free from both the locality and detection loopholes. Their experiment involved entangling spins in diamonds separated by 1.28 km and then measuring correlations between the spins. The large separation between the diamonds and the relative ease with which the spins can be measured ensured that the experiment is loop-hole free – and its result confirmed the existence of the seemingly bizarre concept of quantum-mechanical entanglement.

First visible light detected directly from an exoplanet

To Jorge Martins of the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences and the University of Porto and colleagues in Portugal, France, Switzerland and Chile, for being the first to measure a high-resolution optical spectral signature of light reflected from an exoplanet. The team used the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher instrument at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory to study light from 51 Pegasi b – which was first spotted in 1995. Using a new technique that they developed, Martins and colleagues were able to measure the planet's mass, orbital inclination and reflectivity, which can be used to infer the composition of both the planet's surface and atmosphere.

LHCb claims discovery of two pentaquarks


Tightly bound: five quarks together within a single structure

To the LHCb collaboration at CERN, for showing that five quarks can be bound together in particles called pentaquarks. First predicted in the 1970s and the subject of controversy in the 2000s, the existence of pentaquarks was resolved this year when two pentaquarks with masses around 4400 MeV/c2 emerged from proton collisions at the LHC. Both signals had statistical significances greater than 9σ – much higher than 5σ, which is the golden standard for a discovery in particle physics.

Hydrogen sulphide is warmest ever superconductor at 203 K

To Mikhail Eremets and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Johannes Gutenberg University – both in Mainz, Germany – for discovering the first material that is a superconductor at a temperature that can occur naturally on the surface of the Earth. The team found that hydrogen sulphide under an extreme pressure of 1.5 million atmospheres is a superconductor up to a temperature of 203 K, which is 19 K warmer than the coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica. While further research is needed to understand why superconductivity arises in this material, the discovery could pave the way to the holy grail of superconductors: a material that superconducts at room temperature.

Portable 'battlefield MRI' comes out of the lab

To Michelle Espy and colleagues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US, for creating a practical, portable ultralow-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. Unlike conventional MRI systems that use superconducting coils to create very high magnetic fields, the new system relies on much-weaker fields that are much easier to create in remote locations. This, however, means that the system must be capable of detecting much-weaker signals, which it does using superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). With its low power requirements and lightweight construction, the team hopes that its prototype design can soon be deployed for use in medical centres in developing countries, as well as in military field hospitals.

Fermionic microscope sees first light


Freeze trap: Lawrence Cheuk adjusts the laser-cooling set-up

To Lawrence Cheuk, Martin Zwierlein and colleagues at MIT, for building the first "fermionic microscope" – a device that is capable of imaging up to 1000 individual atoms in an ultracold gas. Great strides have been made in understanding how electrons interact with each other in materials. This has been done by cooling fermionic atoms to ultracold temperatures, and then using light and magnetic fields to fine-tune the interactions between the atoms. The fermionic microscope takes this approach one important step further by allowing physicists to observe the behaviour of individual fermions as the gas cools. The new technique could soon be used by researchers to observe magnetic interactions between atoms, and could even be used to detect quantum entanglement within the ensemble.

Silicon quantum logic gate is a first


Spin doctors: Menno Veldhorst and Andrew Dzurak with their CNOT gate

To Andrew Dzurak, Menno Veldhorst and colleagues at the University of New South Wales in Australia and Keio University in Japan, for creating the first quantum-logic device made from silicon. Their controlled-not (CNOT) gate is a fundamental component of a quantum computer and was made using conventional semiconductor manufacturing processes. The device uses electron spin to store quantum information, and the researchers now plan to scale up the technology to create a full-scale quantum-computer chip.

Double quantum-teleportation milestone is Physics World 2015 Breakthrough of the Year - physicsworld.com
 
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Diamonds are for error: Chinese team clear ‘error’ hurdle to pave way for quantum computer that could make geniuses of us all

Scientists create world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer in piece of precious mineral, say nation could have first one for commercial use within a decade.

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 09 December, 2015, 1:00pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 09 December, 2015, 1:00pm

Stephen Chen


The Chinese team have created a new quantum computing system in diamond which they say can continue operating properly in the event of the failure of one or more qubits. A qubit (quantum bit) is how such computers see and store information. The development of quantum computers has been handicapped by two key errors they often encounter that make their results unreliable. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Chinese scientists have built the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer in a piece of diamond and it will eventually be able to find - in the blink of an eye - passwords and other encrypted information that regular computers need years or decades to uncover, they said.

As such, the breakthrough, coupled with other technological advances over the last few years by companies such as IBM, led the team to make a bold and unsettling prediction: The nation’s first quantum computer should be ready for commercial use within a decade.

These are able to sort through huge reams of data to solve complex problems at a much faster rate than traditional computers, but their development has been handicapped by key errors they encounter.

A team of researchers at IBM cleared one of these hurdles in May by building a four-qubit network they said can detect the two most troublesome quantum errors: Bit-flip errors

(when bits change values due to interference) and phase errors (here, the sign of the phase relationship between 0 and 1 can flip when in a superposition state).

Regular computers contend with errors of the first kind but not the second, which are harder to detect and fix.

It was previously not considered possible to deal with both errors at the same time, something required for quantum computers to work properly.

The IBM team solved this problem using a phenomenon called entanglement, by which qubits can nearly instantaneously share information with other qubits.


China also plans to launch the world’s first quantum communication satellite next year. It will encrypt information with quantum mechanics so that even a quantum computer cannot, in theory, decipher the content. Photo: SCMP Pictures


Qubits are the main data components used in quantum computers. Whereas other machines see information in the form of bits that carry a value of 1 or 0, quantum computers see qubits - single atoms that can be 1, 0 or both at the same time due to a phenomenon known as quantum superposition.

READ MORE: New ‘phantom particle’ discovered by Chinese scientists could mean you only need to charge your smartphone once a year

This is what enables them to conduct many more calculations simultaneously than binary computers.

Now a group of local researchers led by Professor Du Jiangfeng at the University of Science and Technology of China have created a new system which, they say, can continue operating properly in the event of the failure of one or more qubits.

They published their findings in a recent paper in the journal Nature Communications.

Their quantum computing system can operate at room temperature because it is hosted in parts of a diamond lacking in nitrogen, they reported.

While such systems would ordinarily require a climate-controlled lab, the team’s finding paves the way for such computers to operate safely in regular buildings, they said.

Quantum computers were considered a distant dream by most scientists as recently as two or three years ago. Many expected it would take decades before they could be put to practical use due to the bewildering array of unsolved technical challenges.

One of these was the unstable nature of qubits, which can make their results unreliable. Other problems relate to the storage, transportation and manipulation of quantum data.

But a series of recent advances have sparked a new sense of optimism among the mainstream scientific community.

Some commercial systems built to exploit properties of quantum mechanics for special calculations have been developed and purchased by high-profile users such as Lockheed Martin and Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States.


Pan Jianwei. Photo: SCMP Pictures


Prototypes of “quantum chips” have been developed using various platforms including superconductive materials and even traditional silicon by scientists at universities and companies such as IBM.

The Chinese team opted to use diamond.

Pan Jianwei, a lead scientist in the field of quantum computing who works at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told local media earlier this year that the academy was hoping to build a quantum super computer in the next 10 to 15 years.

Such a computer has the potential to change the world by operating at speeds that are 10 quadrillion times faster than current super computers, Pan said.

If created, this would bestow on each Chinese citizen the “exclusive calculation power equivalent to several hundred million units of Tianhe-2,” he said, referring to the country’s fastest super computer.

The upbeat mood in this field has attracted many private Chinese investors.

READ MORE: Hong Kong start-up developing quantum computing solutions for banking and finance

In July, e-commerce giant Alibaba invested US$1 billion in Pan’s quantum super computer project in hope of exploiting the technology for commercial use, such as improving the performance and security of its cloud service.

The first goal of the joint venture was to build a 16-qubit system with a performance equivalent to that of Tianhe-2 by the end of this year.

The work by Du’s team has removed a major obstacle towards producing a quantum computer for practical use, according to Professor Yu Yang, a quantum computing scientist at Nanjing University’s School of Physics in eastern China’s Jiangsu province.

“We are now a step closer to bringing the quantum computer from science fiction to real life,” said Yu, who was aware of but not involved in the research.

Du’s team developed an ingenious method to reduce the noise plaguing the diamond-based system, which significantly improved the system’s reliability, they claimed.

But the work also revealed more challenges in the road ahead.

For instance, the fault-tolerant performance could only be achieved with one qubit. When two qubits were involved, the system’s reliability dropped significantly, they said.

It is crucial to maintain a high level of reliability as more qubits are added because these enhance the overall computing power.

The use of diamond as a host material also has its limits, Yu said, as many qubits would be needed to power quantum computers.

“This would be one ‘jewelry box’ most users couldn’t afford,” he said.

Diamonds are for error: Chinese team clear ‘error’ hurdle to pave way for quantum computer that could make geniuses of us all | South China Morning Post

It means more powerful computer for Chinese hackers to steal American secrets. :omghaha:
But congratulations to you guys.
 
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China wins Physics World 2015 Breakthrough of the Year


Double quantum-teleportation milestone is Physics World 2015 Breakthrough of the Year - physicsworld.com

2CduFXH.jpg
 
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Looks like the only thing that america and their barking dogs like vietnam can do is to cry harder, lmao they can't defend themselves from being hacked. :lol:

At least they aren't cowards like you. :lock:
 
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Well, it's mighty expensive to build a QC in diamonds, the Aussie done this on sand, I reckon the sand principal is a lot more forthcoming as sand worth next to nothing but retain the same material properties with diamonds

World's First Silicon Quantum Logic Gate Brings Quantum Computing One Step Closer


depends on the diamond actually. industrial diamonds are pretty cheap, something like a 30 cents per one-carat sized diamonds. smaller ones like 0.1 carat diamonds are literally 125$ per kilogram of em.
 
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depends on the diamond actually. industrial diamonds are pretty cheap, something like a 30 cents per one-carat sized diamonds. smaller ones like 0.1 carat diamonds are literally 125$ per kilogram of em.

Again, the world have already been using silicon to build IC and microprocessor, to use silicon would simplified a lot in production stage as they were already been making IC grade silicon. You do not need to venture to build another IC line for Diamond, which is a rearranged atomic properties of Carbon.
 
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Again, the world have already been using silicon to build IC and microprocessor, to use silicon would simplified a lot in production stage as they were already been making IC grade silicon. You do not need to venture to build another IC line for Diamond, which is a rearranged atomic properties of Carbon.

well of course Si would be best since lines already exists and the world has tons of experience with it. don't you think the research team would know that too? obviously they used diamonds for a reason. now i didn't look closely into this, but i don't imagine they looked at Si and said "gee what can we use thats worst and costs more than this"
 
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well of course Si would be best since lines already exists and the world has tons of experience with it. don't you think the research team would know that too? obviously they used diamonds for a reason. now i didn't look closely into this, but i don't imagine they looked at Si and said "gee what can we use thats worst and costs more than this"

Dude, you probably need to look at my other reply before quoting me.

I said that already, almost no one developing Quantum Computer is working on the same material, the Aussie is working on Silicon, the American are working on Silicon and Graphite and the Chinese is working on Diamond.

Again, As I said before, as none of them have actually comes out ahead of anyone else, it's honestly quite hard to say who's better or who's not, just different. And in case of a working product, if they could have make them on par in silicon, it would save a lot of money, that's again, is my point.
 
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