18 optical quantum bits successfully entangled by China

Reuters - Chinese scientists have successfully entangled 18 optical quantum bits, a key achievement that will dramatically promote quantum computing speed. Entangling as many quantum bits as possible can lead to an exponential increase of quantum computing speed. However, scientists are facing a huge challenge to entangle a large amount of quantum bits. A group of Chinese scientists for the first time entangled as many as 18 quantum bits by adopting a new technology called the multi-degrees of freedom photon control method. "If I can control the three degrees of freedom of a photon, then it's equivalent to triple it. The control of multi-degrees of freedom is another effective approach for us to further increase the number of the controllable quantum bits. We have adopted multiple approaches at the same time to achieve the large-amount quantum bits entanglement," said Lu Chaoyang, professor with the University of Science and Technology of China. Lu added that this achievement can be used in large-scale, high-efficiency quantum information technology, and can be regarded as a milestone in the technology’s development. "Our next plan is to surpass the conventional computers using integrated circuits in human history, then surpass the fastest commercial computers of our times, and then surpass the supercomputers. This is our fundamental plan," said Lu.