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­CLA Research Offers Clearest Evidence of Long-Sought Majorana Particle


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Rendering of the electronic device in which Majorana particles were observed.

University of California, Los Angeles researchers have found evidence for the existence of the Majorana particle.

Credit: UCLA Engineering

A research team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has uncovered evidence for the existence of the Majorana particle, which could serve as a platform for topological quantum computers.

The researchers positioned a superconductor above a thin film insulator so engineers could manipulate the particles into patterns. Exposing this construct to a small magnetic field yielded the Majorana particles' unique quantized signature--a braid-like pattern--in the external traffic between the two materials.

"We observed quantum behavior, and the signal we saw clearly showed the existence of these particles," says UCLA's Qing Lin He.

The Majorana particle carries no electric charge, which optimizes it to carry a qubit, insulates it from external interference, and enables it to leverage and sustain quantum entanglement.

The researchers say they will now start exploring the application of Majorana particles in quantum braiding, which would weave them together so information can be stored and processed at super-high speeds.

From UCLA Newsroom
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Abstracts Copyright © 2017 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA


 

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