CANBERRA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Scientists in Australia and Japan have proposed a new quantum-computer design powered by quantum batteries, a breakthrough that could make future computers faster, more reliable and more energy-efficient.
In a study published in Physical Review X, researchers have theoretically shown how tiny quantum batteries could power a quantum computer, increasing its number of quantum bits (known as qubits) fourfold, said the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia's national science agency, in a news release on Thursday.
The computers use significantly less energy because internal quantum batteries can recycle the energy in the system, said study co-author James Quach, CSIRO's quantum batteries research lead.
"Quantum batteries are small and mighty," Quach said, adding that the findings bring quantum computing closer to solving the energy, cooling and infrastructure challenges by giving computers an internal "fuel tank" that recharges itself during operation, a key advance in quantum energy.
Quantum computers rely on the rules of quantum physics to tackle problems that could transform computing, medicine, energy, finance, communications and many other fields in the years to come, but sustaining their delicate quantum states demands bulky, energy-intensive cryogenic cooling plus room-temperature electronics -- key barriers blocking scale-up, qubit growth and market rollout, the release said.
Quantum batteries are devices that store energy using light, allowing them to recharge by merely being exposed to it, and can be continually recharged by the machine's own components when integrated into a quantum computer, it added.
"We've calculated that quantum-battery-operated systems will generate significantly less heat, require fewer wiring components, and fit more qubits into the same physical space, all important steps toward building practical, scalable quantum computers," Quach said. ■
