Quantum memristor ushers in era of neuromorphic quantum architecture

Researchers from Austria and Italy have one "Quantum Memristor" that is capable of coherent quantum information in the form of a superposition of single photons. Such a device could form the basis of a quantum version of the neuromorphic architecture designed to mimic the way the human brain works.

The memristor is the fourth basic type of electronic component. We have known about the resistor, the capacitor and the inductor for a long time. In 1971, Professor Leon Chua of California hypothesized that there might be a fourth element that he memristor named. Such a device was developed almost 40 years later, in 2008. Memristors Quickly proved more useful than first thought, and two years ago they were used to build a device that functions similarly to a neuron. Research on this electronic element is ongoing and the latest development is its combination with quantum technology.

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An memristor, the one with Quantum states works and quantum information was built by scientists from the University of Vienna, the Polytechnic University of Milan and the Italian National Research Council. He was with one Femtosecond laser generated, which emits short pulses of light lasting only 10(E-15) seconds. The scientists used these impulses to carve waveguide, i.e. channels that can trap or transmit light, into the glass.

Michele Spagnolo and his team used waveguides to transmit single photons. Thanks to their quantum nature, photons can be sent through two or more waveguides simultaneously in superposition. With sophisticated single-photon detectors, we could Photon in one waveguide and then use that measurement to control the device by modulating the transmission in another waveguide. In this way, our device behaved like a memristor," explains Michele Spagnolo. The researchers have shown, using simulations, that an optical network containing quantum memristors will be able to solve problems at both the classical and quantum levels to solve, which in turn suggests that the quantum memristor could be the building block that connects artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Classical memristors are currently used in research on neuromorphic computing platforms. Therefore, the Italian-Austrian team believes that the quantum memristor to quantum neuromorphic networks could contribute.