Simple and Fast Scheme for Realizing Quantum Logic Gates in an Ion Trap

We propose a simple and fast scheme to realize a controlled-NOT gate between two trapped ions using a resonant laser pulse. Our scheme allows the Rabi frequency of the laser field to be of the order of the vibrational frequency and thus the time required to complete the operation is greatly shortened, which is of importance in view of decoherence.     

High-Fidelity and Low-Cost Hyperparallel Quantum Gates for Photon Systems via Λ-Type Systems

Quantum gates designed with minimized resources overhead have a crucial role in quantum information processing. Here, based on the degrees of freedom (DoFs) of photons and Λ-type atom systems, two high-fidelity and low-cost protocols are presented for realizing polarization-spatial hyperparallel controlled-not (CNOT) and Toffoli gates on photon systems with only two and four two-qubit polarization–polarization swap (P-P-SWAP) gates in each DoF, respectively. Moreover, the quantum gates can be extended feasibly to construct 2m-target-qubit hyperparallel CNOT and 2n-control-qubit Toffoli gates required only 4m and 4n P-P-SWAP gates on $(m+1)$- and $(n+1)$-photon systems, respectively, which dramatically lower the costs and bridge the divide between the theoretical lower bounds and the current optimal syntheses for the photonic quantum computing. Further, the unique auxiliary atom of these quantum gates can be regarded as a temporary quantum memory that requires no initialization and measurement, and is reused within the coherence time, as the state of the atom remains unchanged after the hyperparallel quantum computing.     

Fluorinated Boron Nitride Quantum Dots: A New 0D Material for Energy Conversion and Detection of Cellular Metabolism

Quantum dots encompass a broad spectrum of optical, catalytic, and electrochemical properties bringing in novel applications in catalysis, imaging, displays, and optoelectronics. Herein, the unanticipated broad‐spectrum light absorption and high fluorescence quantum yield in fluorinated boron nitride (FBN) quantum dots are discussed. A heterostructure of FBN quantum dots with a wide‐bandgap semiconductor, titania nanotube arrays, exhibits high photocatalytic activity as evidenced by high external quantum efficiency extending from ultraviolet to green region of the solar spectrum (≈24% at 400 nm). The high activity is confirmed using photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution experiments. Further, it is demonstrated that high fluorescence quantum yield could be tapped for the detection of glycolytic activity in cancer cells compared to normal cells. This finding could shift the paradigm of molecular detection using quantum dots. The 0D structure and the gap states introduced through fluorination are believed to be responsible for these unprecedented characteristics of boron nitride.