Category Technology/Electronics

Silicon quantum computer performs logical operations for the first time

Logical operations are performed on a silicon quantum computer for the first time
The donor cluster and preparation of the logical states. Credit: Nature Nanotechnology (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-026-02140-1

Silicon is ubiquitous in modern electronics, and now it is becoming increasingly useful in quantum computing. In particular, silicon’s compatibility with existing chip technology and its long coherence times in silicon-based spin qubits make it a promising material for scalable quantum computing. A new study, published in Nature Nanotechnology, has demonstrated silicon’s use in a logical quantum processor, representing the first of its kind.

A logical quantum processor in silicon
Quantum computers are highly sensitive to errors from environmental noise, creating hurdles for practical quantum computation...

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Holographic storage approach packs more data into the same space by encoding three properties of light

New holographic data storage approach packs more data into the same space
Researchers developed a holographic data storage approach that stores and retrieves information in three dimensions by combining the amplitude, phase and polarization properties of light. Credit: Xiaodi Tan, Fujian Normal University in China

Researchers have developed a holographic data storage approach that stores and retrieves information in three dimensions by combining three properties of light—amplitude, phase and polarization. By allowing more data to be stored in the same space, the new approach could help advance efforts to meet the growing global demand for data storage.

Holographic data storage uses laser light to store digital information inside a material...

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Dual-rail superconducting qubits generate high-fidelity logical entanglement, study finds

The realization of high-fidelity entangled states with dual-rail superconducting qubits
Dual-rail superconducting qubit chip. Credit: Wenhui Huang.

Quantum computers, systems that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, could outperform classical computers on some advanced tasks. These systems rely on qubits, the fundamental units of quantum information, that become linked via an effect known as quantum entanglement and share a unified quantum state.

Qubits are known to be highly sensitive to slight changes or disturbances in their surrounding environment, also referred to as noise. Noise can prompt them to lose quantum information via a process called decoherence, which in turn leads to errors.

In recent years, quantum scientists and engineers have introduced various approaches aimed at mitigating or correcting quantum errors, with the goal of re...

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From stillage to storage: Turning bourbon byproducts into supercapacitors

From stillage to storage: Researchers turn bourbon byproducts into supercapacitors
Researchers converted bourbon distillery waste (left image) into electrodes for supercapacitors (right image) that store more energy per kilogram than commercial devices. Credit: Josiel Barrios Cossio

The state of Kentucky produces 95% of the world’s bourbon, and all that bourbon leaves behind an enormous amount of waste grain, called stillage. Now, researchers at the University of Kentucky have developed a process to transform that stillage into electrodes. With the bourbon byproduct electrodes, they created supercapacitors that could store more nergy than similarly sized commercial devices. The researchers will present their results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS Spring 2026), held in Atlanta from March 22 to 26.

Turning bourbon stillage into carbon
Jos...

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