quantum Leap in Networking: Researchers Entangle โTen Ion โQubitsโข with Photons
Scientists atโฃ the University of Innsbruck have achieved a significant advance in quantumโค networking, successfully entangling ten trapped-ion qubits with photons. This breakthrough, detailed in a recent publication in Physical Review Letters, represents aโฃ major step towards building aโฃ scalable quantum internet.The research team demonstrated the ability to reliably transmitโ quantum informationโ carriedโ by ions – charged atoms heldโข in place by electromagnetic fieldsโฃ – to distantโ locations via photons,โค particles of light.โฃ This โis crucial for establishing entanglement, a uniquely quantum phenomenon, betweenโ separate quantum devices. the experiment achieved an โaverage ion-photon entanglement fidelity of 92%, highlightingโ theโฃ precision and stability of โthe โฃdeveloped method.
“A key advantage of this โฃapproach is its potential for expansion,” explainsโข Benโข Lanyon, a โคresearcherโ involved in the project. “Previous experiments were limited to linkingโ onyl a fewโฃ ion โคqubits to photons. Our innsbruck setup is designedโข to accommodate considerablyโฃ larger โฃsystems, potentially โฃincorporating โhundreds of โions.” This scalability opens the door to connecting entire quantum processors across considerable distances, even spanning laboratories โinโค differentโ cities or continents.
Marco Canteri, the study’s lead author, emphasizesโ the broader implications: “This work is a crucial step towards realizing practical quantumโ networks. It brings us closer to applications like quantum-secure interaction, distributed quantum computing, and large-scale quantum sensing.”
Beyond โขnetworking, โขthe technology also holds promise for enhancing optical atomic clocks. These incredibly preciseโ timekeepers, capable of losing less than a second over theโค entire age โฃof โthe universe, could be interconnected through quantum networks to create a global timekeeping system with โคunprecedented accuracy.
The research, published on August 21, 2025, isโ titled “Photon-Interfaced Ten-Qubit Register of โtrappedโ Ions” (DOI: 10.1103/v5k1-whwz).โฃ The โคproject received funding from the Austrian โScience Fund FWF andโ the European Union, and represents a vital โฃcomponent in the growth โof next-generation quantum technologies.
