The idea is apparently working on a small scale, but could enable a way to much larger quantum computing systems that could hold thousands or even millions of qubits.
Physicist Jason Petta said he and his team were able to leverage a stream of microwave photons to "analyze" a pair of electrons that were trapped in a quantum dot. The microwave stream, controlled by mirrors, allowed the scientists to read the information held by the electrons. The microwaves are changing depending on the spin state of the electrons.
Like other quantum bit research, this project also operates on a very small scale as the entire apparatus "operates over a little more than a centimeter". However, given the size of an electron, the scientists explained that their device is similar to controlling the motion of an object with two device where one is placed on the moon and the other on Earth.
In future research, Petta said that he would want to work on the reliability of the electron pair and then add more quantum dots and scale the system. "But to make use of the scaling, it needs to work a little better," he said. "The first step is to make better mirrors for the microwave cavity."
