MIT
Technology Review: Flawed nanodiamonds can be used to trap,
release, and manipulate photons. Because they can perform all
those functions at room temperature, they could prove valuable
in quantum computing. Although creating individual nanodiamonds
is easy, it is extremely difficult to arrange them into the
closely packed arrays necessary for information processing. To
simplify the creation of such arrays, a team led by Andreas
Albrecht of Ulm University in Germany has applied a technique
known as
DNA
origami. The researchers coated nanodiamonds with a
specialized protein that bonded with the proteins on other
nanodiamonds to form a hexagonal pattern. The process currently
creates very small clusters, but Albrecht believes it is the
first step toward making the kinds of arrays needed for quantum
computing.
