Amazon is collaborating with De Beers subsidiary Element Six to develop what’s considered a holy grail for synthetic diamonds: using them in quantum networking.
Antia Lamas-Linares, who runs Amazon Web Services’ Center for Quantum Networking, told Bloomberg she believes the technology will be in use within “years rather than decades.”
“Diamond is one of nature’s most remarkable materials,” said a statement co-authored by Bart Machielse and Daniel Riedel from Amazon and Daniel Twitchen from Element Six.
It noted that diamond is “the hardest natural material in the world, has the widest optical transmission, and is the best naturally occurring thermal conductor.”
Those properties “make it uniquely promising for quantum networking and quantum communications applications,” but “undesirable defect atoms” in natural diamonds have made them unsuitable for widespread use.
However, diamonds grown in a lab can either reduce those defects or customize them for a particular use.
Quantum computing would be faster and more efficient than current standard computing, including methods for storing data in the cloud, which uses fiber optics. Amazon Web Services is considered the world’s leading cloud computer service.
Founded in 1946, Element Six is the De Beers subsidiary devoted to synthetic diamonds—including its Lightbox diamond jewelry brand.
(Photo courtesy of Element Six)
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