New semi-conductor research by an international team of scientists could lead to a breakthrough in quantum computing. They have discovered a method of synthesizing magnetic quantum dots above room temperature. This has been achieved by combining a very specific concentration of manganese with the germanium matrix of the quantum dot, allowing it special magnetic detection properties.
The breakthrough came after two years of research by scientists from UCLA, Intel, University of Queensland and other institutions, and will have innumerable applications in computing technology. What these magnetic quantum dots will allow us to do is to perform computing using more than just the electric charge of electrons (leading to just two permutations, on or off), but in addition, the quantum-spin states of the particles. Called spintronics or magnetoelectronics, this refers to the exploitation of both the charge and spin of the electrons for computation.
The work is decidedly revolutionary, and with the correct applications, will shatter previous limits to computing power and efficiency (faster, higher-base calculations), as well as storage capacity (more electron states to record in the same electron). We can't wait for the first new spintronic technologies to start appearing. For more information, check out Nature Materials.