New spin on silicon opens up quantum computing future

An Australian-led team of scientists have developed the key building blocks needed to make a quantum computer using silicon. A research team from the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, and Aalto University in Finland have been able to read out the spin orientation of a single electron on a single engineered atom in a nanoscale device they developed called 'the single electron reader'. This is key technology for "spintronics" which paves the way for a revolution in the next generation of computation and communication technology. The team that made the breakthrough was led by Prof Andrew Dzurak and Dr Andrea Morello of School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at University of NSW and Professor David Jamieson of the School of Physics University of Melbourne. Professor David Jamieson said this discovery could unlock revolutionary applications in the silicon industry. 'Silicon continues to be of primary importance for information technology. It's potential has not yet been fully realised, and this discovery shows is versatility.' By using silicon?the foundation material of conventional computers, the device opens the way to constructing a simpler quantum computer, scalable and amenable to mass-production.