“Quantum computing on a small scale using trapped ions is carried out by aligning individual laser beams onto individual ions with each ion,” said the University. “However, a large-scale quantum computer would need billions of quantum bits, therefore billions of aligned lasers.”

Instead, the Sussex scientist are aligning their qubits with voltages on a chip.

Professor Winfried Hensinger (left in the picture) and his team have demonstrated a building block of this new method with “an impressively low error rate”, claimed the University.

“We will construct a large-scale quantum computer at Sussex making use of this technology,” said Hensinger.

On the right in the photo is team member Dr Seb Weidt.