Magnetic Vortex Becomes a Quantum Bit ⚡ экспресс
In granular superconducting films, vortices turn into quantum switches—like tiny seesaws that you can nudge from one position to another. Scientists have learned to control them and measure their state without disturbing it. These 'living' vortices keep quantum properties for almost a millisecond—perhaps they'll become the workhorses of future quantum computers?
Magnetic vortices in superconductors, like whirlpools in water, typically scatter energy and quickly vanish due to internal friction—dissipation. This hampers their use in quantum chips. But in a film of tiny aluminum grains, a vortex gets trapped and resembles a whirlpool in a narrow well—it spins either one way or the other. Quantum nature allows it to spin both ways at once until measured. This double life lasts for milliseconds—an eternity in the micro-world. Scientists have learned to flip the vortices with microwave pulses (spectroscopy) and read out their state without loss. Each vortex carries exactly one quantum of magnetic flux—a billionth of Earth's field. The idea of Alexei Kitaev to use such structures for noise-tolerant quantum computing has been directly confirmed.
🎯 Each such vortex carries just one quantum of magnetic flux—about a billionth of Earth's magnetic field.