US firm advances room-temperature tech to store light particles for quantum computing The $4M seed round will help Photon Queue expand quantum memory systems for computing and communications. Read Next: US chip maker forms South Korean alliance to advance next-gen power conversionQuantum technology company Photon Queue has announced that its latest round of seed funding has reached £4 million. These funds will, the company explains, be used to superboost its research into quantum computing and photonics. Photon Queue is building a system that can temporarily hold particles of light (photons) so that different parts of a quantum computer or quantum network can work together at the right moment. That sounds simple, but timing is a serious problem in quantum systems. In most photon-based quantum systems today, light particles are used to carry information between different processors. Photons are also used to connect separate quantum systems. Light is also used to distribute entanglement, and perform measurements or trigger operations. All well and good, but photons travel extremely fast and don’t naturally wait around. Holding photons for better quantum calculations This is potentially a problem if these photons need to arrive together at a place for a particular calculation. To solve this, the system needs a kind of “photon memory” or waiting area to ensure a calculation can be completed. This is exactly what Photon Queue is attempting to create. In simple terms, the company is developing something that receives a photon and then uses an optical switch to direct it into a path bounded by highly reflective mirrors. This keeps the photon circulating around a path until such time as it is needed for a particular calculation. A bit like a holding pattern is used for aircraft waiting to land at an overly busy airport. More from Innovation See AllThis is