Anytime the word “quantum” is invoked in the tech press my ears perk up a bit. Why? Well, tech journalists have this way of getting all hot under the collar about anything that uses quantum technology as if the very mention of the world means that we are on the cusp of the silver jumpsuit, flying car future we’ve all been dreaming of.

Unfortunately, even though the applications mentioned are usually quite interesting, they are almost always pretty far away from being commercially viable.

This is no exception.

Caltech researchers are developing a proof of concept for a Quantum Hard Drive. If you aren’t exactly sure what that is, read the article, it’s pretty cool and might someday help us significantly improve information storage and retrieval. Let me reiterate though it is very, very proof of concept so I would suggest you enjoy the super-science but avoid asking your local Best Buy sales rep when it will be hitting the shelf.

The California Institute of Technology has demonstrated that quantum entanglement can simultaneously transfer whole blocks of quantum information, providing a proof-of-concept for future quantum HDs.

The Caltech team claimed that its device is the harbinger of quantum HDs that someday may challenge traditional storage technologies with optical memories that use entanglement for access. In its demonstration, the team transferred the state of four quantum memories to an optical signal and back again, claiming that the principle could be extended to any number of parallel transfers into and out of future quantum HDs.

Read Quantum hard drives on the horizon (Via EE Times) (Images)

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