Magnets could help quantum computers talk to each other, says researcher
Xufeng Zhang is using magnets to make computers more power efficient at the quantum level. The Northeastern professor of electrical and computer engineering recently published two papers highlighting small-scale magnetic systems he and his team developed that could help make computers much more power efficient in the future.
A Northeastern University researcher is exploring how magnets could revolutionize the way quantum computers communicate with each other. Xufeng Zhang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, has developed small-scale magnetic systems that could significantly improve power efficiency in computers. At the heart of Zhang's work are magnons, quasiparticles that carry information through magnetic materials without emitting electrical charge.
Unlike traditional electronics, devices using spin waves—another term for magnons—don't suffer from ohmic loss, which is the conversion of electrical power into heat. Zhang's team is creating hybrid magnonic devices that combine magnetic, microwave, and acoustic waves to create tunable filters, sensors, and low-power links between different quantum computing platforms.
This approach could help overcome the current communication challenges between quantum computers, potentially enabling breakthroughs in fields like drug discovery, artificial intelligence, and even dark matter research.
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