Simulating complex molecular structures
A researcher from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University has helped achieve a significant step forward in quantum technology by developing a quantum microprocessor chip capable of simulating molecular spectroscopy for complex molecules. The university’s Professor Liu Ai-Qun led the research team, working alongside Dr Zhu Hui Hui from Nanyang University and Dr Hao Sen Chen from the Beijing Institute of Technology.
Exploring molecular vibronic spectra—the combined vibrational and electronic transitions in molecules—is crucial in molecular design and analysis. However, this is challenging for classical computers due to the computational intensity involved.
The researchers designed an integrated quantum photonic microprocessor chip for molecular vibronic spectroscopy simulations. The chip features a large-scale photonic network that includes 16 modes of single mode squeezed vacuum states and a fully programmable interferometer network. Vacuum states are a particular type of quantum state.
They also put together a complete system, including the hardware integration of optical-electrical-thermal packaging for the quantum photonic microprocessor chip and electrical control module, software development for device drivers, a user interface, and underlying quantum algorithms that are fully programmable.
Using this new technology, the team was able to achieve a world-first by simulating actual large complex molecular structures with high accuracy.
The research, recently published in Nature Communications, involved collaboration with a large team of experts from a number of other institutions, including Nanyang Technological University, City University of Hong Kong, Beijing Institute of Technology, Southern University of Science and Technology, the Institute of Microelectronics, and Chalmers University of Technology. Their work could lead the way to the solution of intricate quantum chemistry problems that are beyond the capabilities of traditional supercomputers.