According to a paper published by a research team comprising Gurudev Dutt, Ummal Momeen and Naufer Nusran at the University of Pittsburgh in Nature Nanotechnology, quantum computing methods can be used beyond pure electronics and solve issues that were considered as bottlenecks for the advancement of high-precision measurements.
The research paper explains the advancements in developing a nanoscale magnetic imager consisting of individual electrons enclosed in a diamond crystal. The major challenge in realizing such a tool is the difficulty in accurately measuring a magnetic field utilizing the resonance of the individual electrons inside the diamond crystal.
Magnetic imaging allows researchers to determine a limited scope of fields from molecules close to the resonant frequency of the sensor, which in turn complicates the imaging process. Dutt stated that to achieve this, highly advanced image processing and other methods are required. Thus, software must be utilized to solve the restrictions of the hardware, he added.
The research team employed quantum computing processes to eliminate the limitations of the hardware to see the whole magnetic field. By expanding the field, the team has increased the ratio between the optimum measurable field strength and field accuracy by a factor of 10 when compared to the earlier standard methods, paving the way for realizing a future nanoscale MRI tool that is capable of identifying locations of atoms without damaging them and analyzing properties of cells, materials and molecules in a noninvasive manner. Dutt plans to extend the research for further developments.
Source: http://www.pitt.edu