Two Australian research teams have broken quantum computing records.

The local brains found distinct solutions to a critical challenge that has held back the super powerful quantum computers of the future.

The teams created two types of quantum bits, the basic unit of quantum computing – that each process quantum data with an accuracy above 99 per cent.

The two findings have been published simultaneously today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

"For quantum computing to become a reality we need to operate the bits with very low error rates," said UNSW’s Professor Andrew Dzurak, Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, where the devices were made.

"We've now come up with two parallel pathways for building a quantum computer in silicon, each of which shows this super accuracy," added Associate Professor Andrea Morello.

The teams were linked with staff at ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation & Communication Technology, which was the first in the world to demonstrate single-atom spin qubits in silicon in 2012 and 2013.

In a second breakthrough, the team led by Dr Dzurak has discovered a way to create an “artificial atom” qubit with a device just like the silicon transistors used in consumer electronics, known as MOSFETs.

“It is really amazing that we can make such an accurate qubit using pretty much the same devices as we have in our laptops and phones,” said post-doctoral researcher Menno Veldhorst.

Meanwhile, Morello's team has been pushing the “natural” phosphorus atom qubit to its extremes.

“The phosphorus atom contains in fact two qubits: the electron, and the nucleus. With the nucleus in particular, we have achieved accuracy close to 99.99%. That means only one error for every 10,000 quantum operations,” said Dr Juha Muhonen, a post-doctoral researcher and lead author on the natural atom qubit paper.

“even though methods to correct errors do exist, their effectiveness is only guaranteed if the errors occur less than 1% of the time. Our experiments are among the first in solid-state, and the first-ever in silicon, to fulfill this requirement,” Dr Dzurak explained.

The high-accuracy operations for both natural and artificial atom qubits is achieved by placing each inside a thin layer of specially purified silicon, containing only the silicon-28 isotope.

This isotope is perfectly non-magnetic and, unlike those in naturally occurring silicon, does not disturb the quantum bit.

The researchers then built pairs of highly accurate quantum bits.

Fully-fledged quantum computers are expected to consist of many thousands or millions of qubits, and may integrate both natural and artificial atoms.

Morello's research team also established a world-record "coherence time" for a single quantum bit held in solid state - a measurment of how long quantum information can be preserved.

The team reports that it was able to store quantum information in a phosphorus nucleus for more than 30 seconds.

“Half a minute is an eternity in the quantum world. Preserving a 'quantum superposition' for such a long time, and inside what is basically a modified version of a normal transistor, is something that almost nobody believed possible until today,” Morello said.

“For our two groups to simultaneously obtain these dramatic results with two quite different systems is very special, in particular because we are really great mates,” adds Dzurak.

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