Quantum computing - a novel model in data processing, which may complement classical PCs, could shortly become a truth with scientists successfully producing a circuit utilizing neutral atoms.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison produced the circuit by exercising delicate control over a pair of atoms within a straightforward seven-millionths-of-a-second window of opportunity.

UW-Madison physics professor Mark Saffman, together with fellow physics professor Thad Walker, successfully utilized neutral atoms to make what is called as a controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate, a basic type of circuit, which will be an important component of any quantum computer.

The work is the first revelation of a quantum gate between two neutral atoms.

The utilization of neutral atoms rather than charged ions or other materials differentiates the success from earlier work.

"The current gold standard in experimental quantum computing has been set by trapped ions... People can run small programs now with up to eight ions in traps," said Saffman.

But, to be functional for computing applications, PCs must have sufficient quantum bits, or qubits, to be able to run lengthy programs and dealing more complicated calculations.

An ion-based system showed challenges for scaling up as ions are highly interactive with each other and their surrounding, making them hard to manage.

The physical science that explains atoms - quantum mechanics, opens up entirely new chances for processing data.

"There are certain calculational problems that can be solved exponentially faster on a quantum computer than on any foreseeable classical computer," Saffman said.

The Wisconsin group is now working in the direction of arrays of up to 50 atoms to check the possibility of scaling up their systems.

These results were released in the Jan 2010 issue of the Physical Review Letters. (With Input from Agencies)