Researchers at Stanford 's School of Arts and Sciences have developed a quantum microphone capable of producing phonons , the smallest - known form of sound . The team used minuscule resonators to measure the frequency of phonons , according to an article in Nature . "Right now, people are using photons to encode these states. The breakthrough could lead to the development of a phonon quantum computer , which would be smaller and store more information than a light particle - based , photon quantum computer .
Researchers at Stanford 's School of Arts and Sciences have developed a quantum microphone capable of producing phonons , the smallest - known form of sound . The team used minuscule resonators to measure the frequency of phonons , according to an article in Nature . The breakthrough could lead to the development of a phonon quantum computer , which would be smaller and store more information than a light particle - based , photon quantum computer .