Physicists Bend Time Inside a Diamond, Creating a Brand-New Phase of Matter

Physicists at Washington University have forged ahead in the field of quantum mechanics by creating a new phase of matter known as “time crystals” and the even more advanced “time quasicrystals.”


These groundbreaking materials defy traditional physics by maintaining perpetual motion and could revolutionize quantum computing and precision timekeeping by providing a stable, energy-conserving method of measuring time and storing quantum information.

Time Crystals
Physicists at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) have created a new kind of time crystal, a unique phase of matter that challenges conventional understanding of motion and time.

The research team includes Kater Murch, the Charles M. Hohenberg Professor of Physics, and Chong Zu, an assistant professor of physics, along with graduate students Guanghui He, Ruotian “Reginald” Gong, Changyu Yao, and Zhongyuan Liu. Additional collaborators include Bingtian Ye from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Norman Yao from Harvard University. Their findings were published on March 12 in Physical Review X, a leading journal in the field.

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Hybrid Atomic Quantum Computers

Left: A hybrid array of cesium atoms (yellow) and rubidium atoms (blue). Right: The customizability of the researchers' technique enables them to place the atoms anywhere, allowing them to create this image of Chicago landmarks Willis Tower and the Cloud Gate. The scale bar in both images is 10 micrometers. Credit: Hannes Bernien

Qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers, can be made from many different technologies. One way to make a qubit is to trap a single neutral atom in place using a focused laser, a technique that won the Nobel Prize in 2018.


But to make a quantum computer out of neutral atom qubits, many individual atoms must be trapped in place by many laser beams. So far, these arrays have only been constructed from atoms of a single element, out of concern that making an array out of two elements would be prohibitively complex.

But for the first time, University of Chicago researchers have created a hybrid array of neutral atoms from two different elements, significantly broadening the system's potential applications in quantum technology. The results were funded in part by the NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute Hybrid Quantum Architectures and Networks (HQAN), and published in Physical Review X.

"There have been many examples of quantum technology that have taken a hybrid approach," said Hannes Bernien, lead researcher of the project and assistant professor in University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. "But they have not been developed yet for these neutral atom platforms. We are very excited to see that our results have triggered a very positive response from the community, and that new protocols using our hybrid techniques are being developed."

Double the potential
While manmade qubits such as superconducting circuits require quality control to stay perfectly consistent, neutral atoms made from a single element all have exactly the same properties, making them ideal, consistent candidates for qubits.

But since every atom in the array has the same properties, it's extremely difficult to measure a single atom without disturbing its neighbors—they're all on the same frequency, so to speak.  READ MORE...