Quantum computers have surpassed their classical predecessors in terms of speed and capacity. According to the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), quantum computing harnesses the laws of quantum mechanics to solve too complex problems for classical computers.
Additionally, quantum computers have qubits or superconducting circuits that exist in an infinite combination of binary states. However, they must be on the same wavelength that is achieved at the cost of their size. As of now, they are still measured in millimeters and are even bigger than the transistors used in classical computers that are now shrunk in nanometer scales.
Qubits or also known as the quantum bit is the quantum mechanical version of a classical bit. As Quantum Inspire explains, quantum computing encodes information in qubits, while classical computing encodes information in bits.
There are many physical applications of qubits possible, such as polarizations o a photon, a superconducting Transmon qubit, and the nuclear spin states of an atom or an electron.
However, their size remains the main concern for scientists as they are still too big for integrating them into technologies. When combined into larger and larger circuit chips, they make a big physical footprint. That means quantum computers take up a lot of physical space, which cannot be carried in backpacks or worn like watches.
That is why researchers from Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science have looked for a way to shrink qubits but at the same time maintain their performance. They noted that the field would need a new way to build the capacitors that store the energy that powers the qubits.
In the study, titled "Miniaturizing Transmon Qubits Using van der Waals Materials" published in Nano Letters, researchers demonstrated a superconducting capacitor that was built with atom-sized 2D materials.
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