My work on quantum computing aims to solve the world's most complex problems

Abstract

I work at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Seoul, where I run our quantum-technology centre. KIST was South Korea’s first government-funded institute, founded more than 50 years ago. Our research has contributed greatly to the South Korean economy and, in recent years, quantum technology has become one of our major focuses.

We research various fields, including quantum cryptography, which can, in theory, create unhackable communications. Our priority is to design and manufacture quantum devices such as sensors, chips and computers.

I think that quantum computers will help to solve the world’s most complex problems. These machines will be able to do massive computations that were impossible with conventional methods, sparking innovation in materials science, drug development, finance and defence. But it will take time for quantum computers to be manufactured on an industrial scale. I think it will be more than five years, but some physicists say that it will take more than a decade. Right now, only a few dozen quantum computers exist for commercial use. Most, such as the one we have at KIST, are experimental prototypes.

In this photo, I’m checking the configuration of the laser and the optical settings used to control a nitrogen vacancy in a diamond, which serves as the centre qubit of KIST’s quantum computer. The qubit is the basic unit of quantum information, similar to a bit in classical computing. We conduct our research in the dark to avoid interference from ambient light, because we are dealing with weak signals; ambient light is background noise.

Better technology can come from simply advancing existing methods, but innovative and disruptive technology requires something entirely new. This is the essence of quantum technology.