Researchers from the US have revealed some exciting data, which highlights the fact that gold nanoclusters, or superatoms, exhibit properties that are similar to quantum systems used today. Discoveries like this could not only make quantum computers more scalable but also more accessible.
Using Gold Nanoclusters as Building Blocks
Nomis Foundation has reported that quantum information technology could be syndicated with electron spins. This is the magnetic orientation of electrons, and they help to determine how long information stays stable and how it can be controlled. The best systems used trapped atomic ions that are isolated in a gas, as these are coherent, clean, and controllable.
With that said, it’s hard to scale, as the atoms have to remain dilute, and they also have to be isolated. If you expand the system or grow it beyond its capabilities, you may end up introducing interference, which will destroy the information you’re trying to generate. With that said, gold nanoclusters are able to mimic the same results, can be mass-produced, and are also stable when condensed.
Researchers have identified 19 Rydberg-like states in gold clusters, which previously were only identifiable in isolated gaseous ions. This means that, based on current data, gold clusters could end up becoming quantum components that can be tailored to computing.
Quantum Computers Rely on Uncertainty
If you have a qubit in superposition, it behaves in a way that is random. Randomness is essential in the world of quantum computing, but interestingly, it’s also a big part of our lives in other ways. According to Nayaone, banks need large quantities of synthetic data and unpredictable numbers. This could include generating information for customer account numbers, bank card PINs, and even transaction IDs.
Banks use cryptographically secure random number generators that are seeded via entropy sources to guarantee this. Car keys also use rolling code encryption, which means every time you unlock your car, a new code is generated randomly to ensure security. Even in entertainment, random number generators are used.
Slot machines online rely on random number generators. In iGaming, some Megaways casino games have 117,649 ways to win. This applies to titles such as Centurion Megaways and Eye of Horus Megaways, where random number generators are used to ensure each outcome is completely independent, just as it would be on a physical slot machine.
Even though random number generators are essential in a lot of different aspects of our lives, they are a core part of quantum computing, and the concept of having gold nanoclusters is certainly exciting. As gold nannoclusters have quantum properties, they are random at a quantum level. If you excite a nanocluster, the timing of the photon is random on a molecular level. This means that moving forward, it may be that gold nanoclusters are used to create randomness on a higher level, which is not only scalable but also easier to implement on a more global level. Research like this helps to show how important it is to explore new research, but also how even the simplest of concepts can be refined and improved.