This research could eventually enable us to see what goes on inside cells at an atomic level
- Mete Atature
Scientists have successfully tested a new way of using miniscule fragments of diamond to transmit information, a method which could eventually lead to the development of new computing and sensing technologies.
The research, reported in the journal Nature Communications involved exploiting atomic defects which appear in the crystal structure of a diamond, known to physicists as “vacancy centres”.
These are literally vacancies – gaps in the lattice of carbon atoms which make up diamond at its most fundamental level. They usually occur around an impurity, where instead of a carbon atom, some other element has naturally found its way into the structure.
For scientists, vacancy centres offer huge promise because they trap electrons which could then be manipulated to transmit information in a radically new way. Eventually, the technique could enable the development of quantum networks and quantum computing; a means of moving data far more efficiently and quickly than computers do today.
Yet the perfect vacancy centre is hard to come by, because it needs to possess a combination of very precise characteristics which are rarely found together. The new study marks a breakthrough because researchers managed to access the state of the electrons around a vacancy centre based on silicon – something which had not been done before – and discovered that it has some of the crucial qualities that they have been looking for.
The work was carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge, UK, and Saarland University, in Germany.
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Image: The imperfections in diamonds, which give them their colour, also trap electrons which can potentially be manipulated to transmit information – a principle which lies at the heart of quantum computing
Credit: C. H. H. Schulte and H. S. Knowles
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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