For highly fragile quantum information systems, the ability to store quantum information is vital—but also challenging. Quantum information is transported in particles of light called photons, which often must be temporarily paused (or “stored”) while other, slower quantum operations catch up. This storage must be performed on microchips as small as 1 centimeter (0.4 inches)—a distance covered by light in a few trillionths of a second. Storing photons for a microsecond would represent a massive leap forward for the capabilities of quantum chips.

University of Glasgow researchers are part of an international collaboration that could lead to a new generation of quantum sensors. The team, which included researchers from the University of Tokyo, University of Glasgow, University of Sheffield and Kobe University, has for the first time used light to read out the magnetic spin of electrons trapped inside a porous crystalline material known as a metal-organic framework (MOF).

Quantum computers, computer systems that leverage the laws of quantum mechanics, store and process information using qubits (i.e., quantum bits). In many quantum computers, qubits are linked via entanglement, a quantum mechanical effect that connects particles in such a way that their shared state cannot be described as separate, independent states.

In a study led by Tampere University, researchers have developed a new lensless imaging method that produces precise quantitative data on living cells from a single image. The compact system can be placed inside a standard cell-culture incubator, allowing living cells to be monitored continuously for hours or even days without staining or other labels. The research is published in the journal Applied Physics Letters.