Several research groups in Europe and the United States have presented results that point to the emergence of a new computing architecture based on the use of light. Unlike traditional electronic systems, these technologies promise higher speed and energy efficiency. They also increasingly resemble the principles of human brain function.
Researchers in Germany created “light cells” — nanostructures capable of temporarily storing light pulses. Inside them, photons are converted into excited states of cesium atoms and then released again by a laser signal. This is quantum memory, an essential element of future computing systems. Weak signals at the level of several photons have already been held for hundreds of nanoseconds. The next goal is to extend this to milliseconds, which would pave the way for full quantum networks. The high stability of such structures on a single chip has also been demonstrated.
At the same time, an international team of researchers showed that photons can do more than store information — they can also process it. Their photonic quantum processor successfully ran a machine-learning algorithm, and in some tasks it outperformed classical methods in accuracy. The scientists also learned to control several photon parameters at once, creating more information-rich quantum states called qudits.
Practical applications are already appearing. A quantum holographic microscope has been developed that makes it possible to study living cells with almost no damage. In addition, teleportation of quantum information in multidimensional states has been demonstrated — until recently, that sounded like science fiction.
