Information Technology

A research team led by Professor Samuel Stranks at the University of Cambridge has observed ultrafast quantum phenomena in a simple, low-cost semiconductor material – a breakthrough that could make future quantum devices faster and more affordable. The necessary X-ray measurements were carried out by scientists from the Forschungszentrum Jülich at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum and at the Technical University of Munich.

Einstein called it ‘spooky action at a distance.’ Schrödinger deemed it quantum mechanics’ most essential trait. For decades, quantum entanglement has captivated the brightest minds—and now, we can create entangled neutrons using a standard neutron scattering instrument.

A scientific team from Forschungszentrum Jülich has developed a new approach at MLZ to improve the efficiency of neutron spectroscopy experiments and successfully tested it at the Swiss Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Neutron spectroscopy detects forces such as those between atoms arranged in an atomic lattice. The researchers optimized the data acquisition using an active learning artificial intelligence approach. This reduces the time per experiment and makes better use of the scarce resource of measurement time, especially in the first hours of an experiment.

Just as electrons flow through an electrical conductor, magnetic excitations can travel through certain materials. Such excitations, known in physics as “magnons” in analogy to the electron, could transport information much more easily than electrical conductors. An international research team has now made an important discovery on the road to such components, which could be highly energy-efficient and considerably smaller.