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Press Release: Hidden order found in a quantum spin liquid

26 July 2007

An international team, including scientists from the London Centre for Nanotechnology, has detected a hidden magnetic "quantum order" that extends over chains of 100 atoms in a ceramic without classical magnetism.

The findings, which are published today (July 26) by Science, have implications for the design of devices and materials for quantum information processing.

In this process data is recorded and manipulated as quantum bits or 'qubits', generalisations of the classical '0' and '1' bits which are traditionally represented by the 'on' and 'off' states of conventional switches. It is widely believed that if large-scale quantum computers can be built, they will be able to solve certain problems, such as code breaking, exponentially faster than classical computers.

To read the full press release, click here.