TARKON ION NA DAKIN GWAJIN KWANTUM YA HAU BABBAR HANYA

Atom masu cajin lantarki, wato ion, ana iya riƙe su suna shawagi a cikin vacuum ta hanyar filayen lantarki. Idan aka tarko su haka, sukan zama ɗaya daga cikin manyan dandamalin fasahar kwantum: zuciyar wasu kwamfutocin kwantum, da cibiyoyin hanyoyin sadarwar kwantum da na’urorin auna masu cikakken daidaito. Ana kiran wasu daga cikin waɗannan na’urori masu ɗaukuwa — misali agogon haske (optical clocks) masu ɗaukuwa — amma galibi ba sa iya aiki yayin da ake motsa su.

Tarkuna masu maganaɗisu kawai ne suka taɓa tafiya

Gwaje-gwaje biyu kawai sanannu ne suka riƙe ƙwayoyi a tarko yayin tafiya. Sama da shekaru talatin da suka gabata, wani tarko mai ɗaukuwa ya ɗauki electron. Kwanan nan, an kai proton sannan antiproton. Duka biyun sun yi amfani da tarkon Penning, wanda yake haɗa filayen lantarki marasa motsi da filayen maganaɗisu masu ƙarfi.

Amma galibin dakunan gwajin kwantum suna amfani da wani tsari daban: tarkon Paul, wanda yake riƙe ion da filin mitar rediyo (radio-frequency) mai jujjuyawa da sauri. Ɗaukar irin wannan tarko a kan hanya yana kawo nasa ƙalubale: vacuum mai tsananin ƙarfi da za a kiyaye, ion da za a riƙe na dogon lokaci, da hanyar haske don ayyukan kwantum na gaba.

Dakin gwaje-gwaje a cikin firam na mita 1.8

Sara Alfaro, Dipesh Bhanushali, Giovanni Cerchiari da abokan aikinsu a jami’o’in Innsbruck da Siegen, ciki har da Rainer Blatt da Thomas Monz (waɗanda kuma suke da alaƙa da Alpine Quantum Technologies, Innsbruck), sun gina tarkon Paul mai layi da sanduna huɗu masu tsayin mm 40, a cikin ɗakin vacuum da aka riƙe ƙasa da 3 × 10⁻¹¹ millibar. Komai — ɗaki, na’urorin wutar lantarki mai ƙarfi, kayan lantarki na mitar rediyo, oscilloscope — yana shiga cikin firam mai tsayin cm 180, faɗin cm 61 da tsawon cm 90, ba tare da wani sashe mai motsi ba. A kan hanya, na’urorin wutar lantarki marasa katsewa guda biyu suna sa shi ci gaba da aiki.

Zanen tsarin tarkon ion, hotunan wayoyin lantarki (electrodes) na tarkon da ɗakin vacuum, da firam mai tsayin santimita 180 da ke ɗauke da dukan na’urar.

Na’urar: zanen tsari (a), ƙirar electrodes (b, d), tarkon da aka ɗora a cikin ɗakin vacuum nasa (c), da firam mai ɗaukuwa, tsayin cm 180 (e). — Hoto na 1, Alfaro et al. (2026), arXiv:2610.20487.

Ana ƙirƙirar ion ta hanyar harba ƙaramin laser kore kan ɗaya daga cikin electrodes na ƙarfe. Ion ɗin da aka tarko suna da ma’aunin nauyi bisa caji na kusan 12, wanda ƙungiyar ta danganta galibi da ion na carbon da aka ɓalle daga ƙarfen da ba ya tsatsa (stainless steel). Don ƙirga su, ana buɗe tarkon a jefa ion ɗin kan wani na’urar gano abubuwa wanda ake ɗaukar bidiyon walƙiyoyinsa. A dakin gwaje-gwaje, ion ɗin suna zama a tarko da tsawon rai na kusan daƙiƙa 2,600, kusan mintuna 43.

Tafiye-tafiye biyu a kan babbar hanya

Don gwaje-gwajen hanya, an ɗora firam ɗin a cikin mota da forklift aka ɗaure shi a ƙasa. Kowane lokaci, an loda ion yayin da motar ke tsaye, motar ta tafi a kan manyan hanyoyi masu sassa madaidaita da masu lanƙwasa, sannan ta sake tsayawa don aunawa.

Tafiya ta farko: lodawa a wurin hutu na Lanz-Brenner, kaɗan bayan ƙetare iyakar Austriya da Italiya, sannan kilomita 18.6 zuwa Campo di Trens. Bayan mintuna 15 na ajiya, an gano kusan ion 3,800, ƙari ko ragi 1,300.
Tafiya ta biyu: lodawa kusa da Bruchsal, a Jamus, sannan kilomita 63.4 zuwa Zwingenberg. Bayan mintuna 45, kusan ion 1,170 suka rage, ƙari ko ragi 390 — kusan kashi 70% ƙasa.

Taswirorin hanya biyu tare da hanyoyin da aka bi na kilomita 18.6 da 63.4, da jadawalin yawan ion da suka rage bisa lokacin ajiya tare da raguwa ta exponential.

Hanyoyin biyu (a, b) da yawan ion da aka gano bayan kowace tafiya (c), suna bin raguwa ta exponential. — Hoto na 3, Alfaro et al. (2026), arXiv:2610.20487.

Wannan raguwa daidai take da abin da ake tsammani daga jira kawai: idan aka daidaita su tare, tafiye-tafiyen biyu suna ba da tsawon rayuwar ajiya na kusan daƙiƙa 1,500, tare da rashin tabbas da ke sa ya yi daidai da ƙimar dakin gwaje-gwaje. A taƙaice, babbar hanyar ba ta girgiza fitar da ion fiye da yadda lokaci ya yi ba. A cewar marubutan, wannan shi ne karo na farko da aka yi jigilar ion da aka tsare a cikin tarkon Paul mai layi a nisan kilomita da dama.

Kwantum a suna kawai, a yanzu

Taken yana magana kan na’urar kwantum, amma babu wani abu na kwantum da ya faru a cikin motar. Ba a sanyaya ion ɗin da laser ba, kuma ba a rubuta ko karanta wani qubit ba; an ajiye su ne kawai. Ƙirgar kanta tana da babban rashin tabbas, kusan kashi ɗaya bisa uku, saboda ion suna taruwa a kan na’urar ganowa. Kuma an yi aunawar ne lokacin da motar ke tsaye.

Marubutan suna ganin wannan a matsayin tushe. Mataki na gaba shi ne sanyaya da sarrafa ion yayin da na’urar ke motsi. Wannan zai iya kai ga na’urorin auna na kwantum da ke aiki yayin tafiya, cibiyoyin hanyoyin sadarwar kwantum da za a iya tura su, agogo masu hanzari don gwada ka’idar dangantaka ta gaba ɗaya (general relativity) — kuma, ta wata bawul da aka gina a cikin ɗakin, hanyar ɗaukar ion masu ban mamaki, wataƙila wata rana antimatter, tsakanin dakunan gwaje-gwaje ba tare da manyan maganaɗisun tarkon Penning ba.