Xiang Zhang

A typical quantum bit is destroyed by the slightest disturbance — heat, magnetic fields. Physicists made a pair of atoms work together so that disorder wouldn't erase the record. Information was encoded not in each atom individually, but in the difference of their states — like the tension of a rope between two buoys.

Two ultra-thin sheets, each just one atom thick, are placed on top of each other and slightly rotated. Like two sheets of colored tracing paper: while they lie flat, the picture is one thing, but give them a twist and a moiré pattern appears. Here, though, the pattern isn't visible to the eye, but it completely changes how the material handles light.