Army scientists pick top 10 coolest advances of 2020
Number 9: Levitating, freezing atoms to further quantum networking
Using laser beams, Army researchers levitate atoms and freeze them to the coldest temperatures on earth, nearly absolute zero. Patterns of quantum information are stored in the frozen atoms, creating quantum holograms that can be retrieved. From this, researchers developed a new way to solve a critical challenge in quantum entanglement.
The resulting holographic quantum memory is a building block for future Army quantum networks with exponentially more powerful capabilities in computing, sensing and communications.
“Quantum networks are completely different than anything that currently exists,” said Army researcher Kevin Cox. “The internet is the network right now, and it possesses certain capabilities. Quantum networks will have completely different capabilities and will access a piece of the universe that we have not been able to access before. It will lead to computing power that will be orders of magnitude more powerful than anything that currently exists.”
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