Category Physics

Key Element for a Scalable Quantum Computer

Kernstück für einen skalierbaren Quantencomputer
Semiconductor quantum chip with quantum bus of the JARA cooperation of Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University
Copyright:
— Forschungszentrum Jülich / Sascha Kreklau

Physicists demonstrate electron transport on a quantum chip. Millions of quantum bits are required for quantum computers to prove useful in practical applications. The scalability is one of the greatest challenges in the development of future devices. One problem is that the qubits have to be very close to each other on the chip in order to couple them together. Researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University have now come a significant step closer to solving the problem...

Read More

3D Printing Drones Work like Bees to Build and Repair Structures while Flying

Timelapse light trace demonstrating multi-agent coordination of Aerial AM robot team.
A simulation of potential future building projects. Credit: Autonomous Manufacturing Lab, UCL

The technology, which has been tested in the lab, could ultimately be used for manufacturing and building in difficult-to-access or dangerous locations such as tall buildings or help with post-disaster relief construction, say the researchers.

3D printing is gaining momentum in the construction industry. Both on-site and in the factory, static and mobile robots print materials for use in construction projects, such as steel and concrete structures.

This new approach to 3D printing – led in its development by Imperial and Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories of Materials Science and Technology – uses flying robots, known as drones, that use collective building methods inspired by natural ...

Read More

Researchers Create New Magnetic Quasiparticle

Florian Dirnberger_Vinod Menon_Magnetic Quasiparticle Creation
Optical resonator enhanced coupling of photons and spin-correlated excitations in a van der Waals magnetic crystal. Image created by Rezlind Bushati.

From The City College of New York’s Center for Discovery and Innovation and the Physics Department comes news of a new type of magnetic quasiparticle created by coupling light to a stack of ultrathin 2D magnets. This achievement sprouting from a collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin lays the foundation for an emergent strategy to artificially design materials by ensuring their strong interaction with light.

“Implementing our approach with magnetic materials is a promising path towards efficient magneto-optical effects,” said CCNY physicist Vinod M. Menon, whose group led the study...

Read More

Tiny Soft Robot can Split into Tinier Bits then Reassemble after Passage Through Small Spaces

Tiny soft robot can be split into tinier bits to allow for passage through small spaces
Overview of trans-scale maneuver and scale reconfiguration strategies of the scale-reconfigurable miniature ferrofluidic robots (SMFRs). (A) Trans-scale control of the SMFR: locomotion of the centi-FR, milli-FR, and micro-FR based on magnetic gradient, both magnetic gradient and torque, and magnetic torque only, respectively. (B) Response behaviors of ferrofluid droplets in magnetic fields. (C) The SMFR is manipulated by a custom-designed magnetic actuation system (the M3RA system) composed of four electromagnets, a spherical permanent magnet (SPM), and a motorized translation stage. To easily observe the internal composition of the system, we hide a quarter of the structure...
Read More