Stopping light for quantum computing

Two sets of scientists from Harvard University and the Rowland Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts have succeeded in storing a light beam without destroying its attributes. It is believed that the breakthrough will help in the development of quantum computing. Both groups used a control laser tuned at just the right frequency to put gas atoms in a cell chilled close to absolute zero into a so-called dark state incapable of absorb light. When another laser pulse enters the cell, it flips the atoms' spins and slows the beam. When the process is reversed the light beam in its original state is released.

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