Researchers at UNSW have discovered a way to make atomic nuclei “speak”. But how?
The UNSW team created quantum entangled states between two phosphorus atomic nuclei separated by about 20 nanometres, according to a study published in Science. Normally, such nuclei lie isolated and don’t interact, but here electrons served as mediators, linking the two cores.
Lead author Dr Holly Stemp said the experiment allowed “the cleanest, most isolated quantum objects” to talk at the scale of existing silicon devices. The method overcomes a key barrier in quantum computing: balancing isolation from noise (which helps preserve quantum states) with the need for interaction (which enables computation).
Each phosphorus nucleus was paired with its own electron. The electrons exchanged information, effectively enabling the nuclei to become entangled. The team executed a controlled-Z gate (CZ gate) to confirm entanglement, achieving a Bell state fidelity of about 76 %, according to a report by ANI.
This architecture is compatible with standard silicon fabrication processes, bringing quantum computing closer to integration with existing microchips. Because the nuclei are extremely stable (low noise), they make good qubits, but the missing link was how to connect them. This work provides that missing link, as per UNSW.
"The spin of an atomic nucleus is the cleanest, most isolated quantum object one can find in the solid state," says Scientia Professor Andrea Morello, UNSW School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications, according to ANI.
"Over the last 15 years, our group has pioneered all the breakthroughs that made this technology a real contender in the quantum computing race. We already demonstrated that we could hold quantum information for over 30 seconds - an eternity, in the quantum world - and perform quantum logic operations with less than 1% errors," Morello continued.
Yet, challenges remain. For full quantum processors, engineers must control many nuclear qubits, maintain coherence, suppress errors, and precisely place donor atoms. Still, many believe this step marks a turning point: quantum chips built on silicon might soon scale beyond prototypes into practical machines.