Quantum Dots, Qubits, and Artificial Intelligence to Create Them Automatically
Well done piece, very descriptive, and best of all… in layperson’s terms. Recommend reading straight from the source. Because Quantum is Coming. Qubit
Ebb and Flow: Creating Quantum Dots Automatically With AI
+ Even though research on artificial intelligence (AI) goes back to the 1960s, it wasn’t until the past decade that AI really became an integral part of our lives. From automatically recognizing faces in our photo library to predicting traffic congestion and finding the fastest routes to our destination, AI is everywhere. It is also revolutionizing how research and science are being done, from data mining to drug discovery.
What makes AI particularly attractive and at the same time really powerful is that it not only automates many laborious tasks — this in principle could be done with a well-written script — but learns how to do them from data alone, without ever being explicitly programmed to solve the problem at hand. This is known as training the AI.
+ In my research, I use an AI-powered face-recognition-like approach to classify “faces” of quantum dot devices for use as so-called qubits, the building blocks of a quantum computer’s processor. While in classical computers, information and processes are coded as strings of 0 (no signal in the circuit) and 1 (signal is on), quantum computers use 0, 1 and everything in between. This is achieved by replacing the classical 0-1 bits with quantum bits, aka qubits. There are certain mathematical problems, such as the factorization of numbers, in which quantum computers are expected to outperform classical ones.
+ In fact, full automation of this process is one of the main obstacles to widespread use of semiconductor-based qubits. Even with semi-scripted tuning protocols, a lot of decisions about the proper parameters range are still made by the researcher. At the same time, as one of my colleagues, Jake Taylor, put it well, legions of graduate students applying “trial-and-error” approaches cannot be the ultimate answer for deploying quantum technologies. To enable the quantum revolution, we need to find a way to take the human out of the picture.
Source: NIST. Justyna Zwolak, Ebb and Flow: Creating Quantum Dots Automatically With AI…
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