NIST physicist David Wineland will share the 2010 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics for his groundbreaking work on quantum computing. Wineland’s research group demonstrated the first universal quantum logic gate using a single trapped ion in 1995, a key step toward developing a future quantum computer. Since then, his team has made several other “firsts” in experimental quantum computing, including the first basic building blocks for a quantum computer based on trapped ions, the first entanglement of ions, the first quantum teleportation of information in matter, and the first robust error-correction scheme. The Franklin medals, among the most prestigious awards for achievements in science and technology, will be formally presented in a ceremony in Philadelphia in April 2010.
Keywords: quantum, computing, algorithms, logic, gate, quantum, properties, ions, information, processing
