The new interface paves the way for connecting quantum devices.
Quantum networks are often described as the next stage of the internet. Instead of transferring ordinary digital information in bits, they use photons to carry quantum information. This approach could make communication virtually unbreakable, connect faraway quantum computers into one powerful system, and enable sensing technologies capable of measuring time and environmental conditions with extraordinary precision.
For this kind of network to work, researchers must develop quantum network nodes that can both store quantum information and exchange it through light particles. In a recent breakthrough, a team led by Ben Lanyon at the Department of Experimental Physics, University of Innsbruck, demonstrated such a node by using a chain of ten calcium ions inside a prototype quantum computer.
By finely controlling electric fields, the scientists guided the ions one at a time into an optical cavity. Inside the cavity, a carefully calibrated laser pulse caused each ion to emit a single photon, with the photon’s polarization becoming entangled with the ion’s quantum state.
Linking Ions and Photons
The process created a stream of photons; each tied to a different ion-qubit in the register. In future the photons could travel to distant nodes and be used to establish entanglement between separate quantum devices. The researchers achieved an average ion–photon entanglement fidelity of 92 percent, a level of precision that underscores the robustness of their method.
“One of the key strengths of this technique is its scalability,” says Ben Lanyon. “While earlier experiments managed to link only two or three ion-qubits to individual photons, the Innsbruck setup can be extended to much larger registers, potentially containing hundreds of ions and more.” This paves the way for connecting entire quantum processors across laboratories or even continents.
“Our method is a step towards building larger and more complex quantum networks,” says Marco Canteri, the first author of the study. “It brings us closer to practical applications such as quantum-secure communication, distributed quantum computing, and large-scale distributed quantum sensing.”
Broader Applications
Beyond networking, the technology could also advance optical atomic clocks, which keep time so precisely that they would lose less than a second over the age of the universe. Such clocks could be linked via quantum networks to form a worldwide timekeeping system of unmatched accuracy.
Reference: “Photon-Interfaced Ten-Qubit Register of Trapped Ions” by M. Canteri, Z. X. Koong, J. Bate, A. Winkler, V. Krutyanskiy and B. P. Lanyon, 21 August 2025, Physical Review Letters.
DOI: 10.1103/v5k1-whwz
The work was financially supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF and the European Union, among others, and demonstrates not only a technical milestone but also a key building block for the next generation of quantum technologies.
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6 Comments
Today’s heresy. Since the internet has caused more problems than it has solved, why make it work more quickly?
An entire generation has been severely misled, poisoned and fooled by so-called peer-reviewed publications. In today’s physics, the so-called peer-reviewed journals—including Physical Review Letters, Nature, Science, and others—stubbornly insist on and promote the following:
1. Even though θ and τ particles exhibit differences in experiments, physics can claim they are the same particle. This is science.
2. Even though topological vortices and antivortices have identical structures and opposite rotational directions, physics can define their structures and directions as entirely different. This is science.
3. Even though two sets of cobalt-60 rotate in opposite directions and experiments reveal asymmetry, physics can still define them as mirror images of each other. This is science.
4. Even though vortex structures are ubiquitous—from cosmic accretion disks to particle spins—physics must insist that vortex structures do not exist and require verification. Only the particles that like God, Demonic, or Angelic are the most fundamental structures of the universe. This is science.
5. Even though everything occupies space and maintains its existence in time, physics must still debate and insist on whether space exists and whether time is a figment of the human mind. This is science.
6. Even though space, with its non-stick, incompressible, and isotropic characteristics, provides a solid foundation for the development of physics, physics must still insist that the ideal fluid properties of space do not exist. This is science.
And so on.
The so-called peer-reviewed journals—including Physical Review Letters, Nature, Science, and others openly define differences as sameness, sameness as differences, existence as nonexistence, and nonexistence as existence—all while deceiving and fooling the public with so-called “impact factors (IF),” never knowing what shame is.
The universe is not a God, nor is it merely Particles. Moreover, it is not Algebra, Formulas, or Fractions. The universe is the superposition, deflection, entanglement, and locking of geometric shape, the interaction and balance of self-organization for the spacetime vortices and their fractal structures. Topological invariants are the identical intrinsic properties between two isomorphic topological spacetimes. Different civilizations may create distinct mathematical codes or tools to describe the universality and specificity of these topological invariants under different physical laws.
Topology provides stability blueprints, but specific physics (spatial features, gravitational collapse, fluid viscosity, quantum measurement) dictates vortex generation, evolution, and decay. If researchers are interested in this, please visit https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/1933484562941457487 and https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/1925124100134790589 (If the link is available).
Not to mention VCRs, comic books, Walkmans, cars and airplanes…
The future is photonic networks. Scalable, room temperature operation. Distributed quantum computing. Probing time dilation effects on atomic clocks in a widely separated network.
VERY GOOD! Probing time dilation effects on atomic clocks in a widely separated network.
With advancements in experimental techniques and theoretical frameworks, Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) is expected to become an important paradigm for explaining complex physical phenomena by around 2030, bringing revolutionary breakthroughs to next-generation information technologies and energy materials. As a rapidly developing interdisciplinary field, future research in TVT will exhibit three major trends: precision in fundamental theories, intelligent material design, and diversified technological applications.
If researchers are interested, please browse https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/1942195688579510790 (If the link is available).
Ok was everyone under a rock?
Report on the real reason behind the scenes the Quantum Quantum ai is changing quantum pulse Intelligence unitygrid https://quantum-agi-consortium-qmagic.ghost.io/unitygrids-quantum-pulse-intelligence-qpi-breakthrough/