'Cavity protection effect' helps to conserve quantum information

The electronics we use for our computers only knows two different states: zero or one. Quantum systems on the other hand can be in different states at once, they can store a superposition of "zero" and "one". This phenomenon could be used to build ultrafast quantum computers, but there are several technological obstacles that have to be overcome first. The biggest problem is that quantum states are quickly destroyed due to interactions with the environment. At TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology), scientists have now succeeded in using a protection effect to enhance the stability of a particularly promising quantum system.