Sandia has produced its first lot of a new world-class ion trap, a central component for certain quantum computers. The new device, dubbed the Enchilada Trap, enables scientists to build more powerful machines to advance the experimental but potentially revolutionary field of quantum computing.
In addition to traps operated at Sandia, several traps will be used at Duke University for performing quantum algorithms. Duke and Sandia are research partners through the Quantum Systems Accelerator, one of five U.S. National Quantum Information Science Research Centers funded by the DOE Office of Science.
An ion trap is a type of microchip that holds electrically charged atoms, or ions. With more trapped ions, or qubits, a quantum computer can run more complex algorithms.
With sufficient control hardware, the Enchilada Trap could store and transport up to 200 qubits using a network of five trapping zones inspired by its predecessor, the Roadrunner Trap. Both versions are produced at Sandia’s Microsystems Engineering, Science and Applications fabrication facility.
Read more at Sandia National Laboratories
