THE first experimental proof is in that a quantum computer can be built using quantum dots.
Quantum dots are minute spheres of semiconductor material that hold a charge, or bit of information, in a quantum state. But scientists had not managed to manipulate these charges so they could build a quantum computer to carry out super-fast calculations.
Now a team led by Duncan Steel at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has shown that energy from a laser pulse can kick the charges into new quantum states. So far, they have only got the technique to work on two…
