Amazon and De Beers Work on Lab Growns for Quantum Era
April 13, 23
(IDEX Online) - Amazon and De Beers are collaborating to develop lab grown diamonds for use in super-secure quantum communications.
They will allow computer networks to transmit vast amounts of data over long distances, far outperforming current fiber-optic systems.
Element Six, the De Beers subsidiary that specializes in industrial applications of lab grown diamonds, is working with Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms.
Lab grown diamonds, produced to meet very specific requirements, are far more effective than their natural counterparts.
A whole variety of imperfections in mined diamonds make them unsuitable as the so-called "quantum repeaters", which transfer information encoded on photons.
"Natural diamond forms deep inside the earth as a result of tectonic pressures 100s of kilometers below the earth's surface," say the companies in a joint statement.
"These diamonds, as a consequence of their growth environment, are varied and unique. Despite being more pure than other natural crystals, contain many different impurities incorporated from the environment during the long, slow growth process."
But advances in lab grown technology - plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) - means that individual plates of diamond can now be produced with "sufficient purity and orderliness" for quantum applications.