Moore's Law states that the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively into an integrated circuit will double every two years or become half their original size. In reality, it turns out that the doubling/shrinking happens every 18 months. Based on prediction, the law will hold true until somewhere between 2015 and 2020. At which point, a single transistor will be the size of one atom.

Can single atom transistors exist? The answer is shocking; yes,  they already do.

3D model constructed by a scanning tunnelling microscope of the single atom Phosphorus transistor (via UNSW)

Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, have precisely placed a single phosphorus atom between atomic-scale electrodes and control gates. UNSW Professor Michelle Simmons, leader of the project at the ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, explained, "...this device is perfect... This is the first time anyone has shown control of a single atom in a substrate with this level of precise accuracy. Our group has proved that it is really possible to position one phosphorus atom in a silicon environment - exactly as we need it - with near-atomic precision, and at the same time register gates."

Inside a high-vacuum chamber, the team used a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) to see/manipulate the atom on the crystalline substrate. A lithographic process was used to pattern the phosphorus atom into a usable transistor. A non-reactive layer of hydrogen was applied to the atomic circuit. The STM then removed selected hydrogen atoms, etching the surface.  A chemical reaction placed the phosphorus atoms in the center. Then everything is encapsulated in silicon. Connections through the silicon allow for control on the individual atoms. The results were theoretical agreement with what a single phosphorus atom transistor could do.

Although the team stated that they beat Moore's Law, they now have to manufacture inexpensive devices using the technology to solidify an actual law-break. They have only 3 years to do it. I am hoping they do so. Keep in mind, controlling individual atom is at the core of quantum computing, and this might just bring about the technological singularity much faster. (When innovation can happen in an instant, every instant.)

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See Engineering On Friday's take on this development.

Depictions of the glass and how they can be stacked (via Cornell University white paper)

Interferometry is a technique where electromagnetic waves are superimposed to extract data from the wave itself. Using an interferometer is a device that does the job, refracting and reflecting photons, for example, to analyze the wave. The issue is that these apparatuses are delicate to say the least. Constant recalibration is needed. Interferometers are often used as a way to carry out quantum processing, where the output of one is the input of another.

Jonathan MacDonald and his team from the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome New York, working alone with Cornell University, have developed a way to make interferometers more solid-state. Optigrate, common Holograms, interferometers are embedded in glass creating a high resistance to environmental changes. Which eliminates the need for calibration. MacDonald stated that this tech could perform quantum teleportation and CNOT logic.

Unfortunately, the quantum glass is not reprogrammable. Each pane would be crafted to perform a single operation. If nothing else, the tech will speed up experimentation in quantum research.
Read more in the "Quantum Computing in a Piece of Glass" white paper.

I think the Air Force should look at the recent quantum IC created by the University of Bristol, where the photon manipulation is reprogrammable.

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"The teleporter" in the lab of Professor Akira Furusawa at the University of Tokyo

Professor Elanor Huntington and PhD student James Webb from the University of New South Wales are the first to repeatedly teleport uncorrupted quantum data from one point to another. In the past, anyone attempting this would experience changed or missing information passing through similar channels, and the process was slow. Huntington's observed quantum teleportation happened much faster. The team stated that any type of communication can be transferred through this conduit.

Much like the Schrodinger's Cat paradox, the communicated quantum data sits in superposition, in two states at once. (In the cat's case, alive and dead.) Huntington stated that the data can be sent via a beam of light, "and it’s a powerful way to represent and process information."

Although the word teleport is used, this does not imply faster than light travel. (instantly moving the quantum data from point A to B is not possible, but this development is quite fast.)

Huntington says what the next step is, " This process means we will be able to move blocks of quantum information around within a computer or across a network, just as we do now with existing computer technologies." Quantum computer now has the framework, the future is so close.
When the first quantum processor is made, today's supercomputers will be an irrelevant joke.

The experiment was conducted in the laboratory of Professor Akira Furusawa at the University of Tokyo.

Eavesdropper