1970s

• 1970 – Stephen Wiesner
  Stephen Wiesner
  Stephen J. Wiesner is a research physicist currently living in Israel. As a graduate student at Columbia University in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he discovered several of the most important ideas in quantum information theory, including quantum money , quantum multiplexing...
  
   invents conjugate coding
  Conjugate coding
  Conjugate coding is a cryptographic tool, introduced by Stephen Wiesner in the sixties. Because its publication has been surprisingly rejected, it was developed to the world of public-key cryptography in the eighties as Oblivious Transfer, first by Rabin and then by Even.It is used in the field of...
  
  .

• 1973 – Alexander Holevo publishes a paper showing that n qubit
  Qubit
  In quantum computing, a qubit or quantum bit is a unit of quantum information—the quantum analogue of the classical bit—with additional dimensions associated to the quantum properties of a physical atom....
  
  s cannot carry more than n classical bits of information (a result known as "Holevo's theorem
  Holevo's theorem
  In physics, in the area of quantum information theory, Holevo's theorem is an important limitative theorem in quantum computing which was published by in 1973....
  
  " or "Holevo's bound"). Charles H. Bennett
  Charles H. Bennett (computer scientist)
  Charles H. Bennett is an IBM Fellow at IBM Research. Bennett's recent work at IBM has concentrated on a re-examination of the physical basis of information, applying quantum physics to the problems surrounding information exchange...
  
   shows that computation can be done reversibly.

• 1975 – R. P. Poplavskii publishes "Thermodynamical models of information processing" (in Russian), Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk,115:3, 465–501 which showed the computational infeasibility of simulating quantum systems on classical computers, due to the superposition principle
  Superposition principle
  In physics and systems theory, the superposition principle , also known as superposition property, states that, for all linear systems, the net response at a given place and time caused by two or more stimuli is the sum of the responses which would have been caused by each stimulus individually...
  
  .

• 1976 – Polish mathematical physicist Roman Stanisław Ingarden publishes a seminal paper entitled "Quantum Information Theory" in Reports on Mathematical Physics, vol. 10, 43–72, 1976. (The paper was submitted in 1975.) It is one of the first attempts at creating a quantum information theory, showing that Shannon information theory cannot directly be generalized to the quantum
  Quantum
  In physics, a quantum is the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction. Behind this, one finds the fundamental notion that a physical property may be "quantized," referred to as "the hypothesis of quantization". This means that the magnitude can take on only certain discrete...
  
   case, but rather that it is possible to construct a quantum information theory, which is a generalization of Shannon's theory, within the formalism of a generalized quantum mechanics of open systems and a generalized concept of observables (the so-called semi-observables).

1980s

• 1981
  • Richard Feynman
    Richard Feynman
    Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
    
     in his talk at the First Conference on the Physics of Computation, held at MIT in May, observed that it appeared to be impossible in general to simulate an evolution of a quantum system on a classical computer in an efficient way. He proposed a basic model for a quantum computer
    Quantum computer
    A quantum computer is a device for computation that makes direct use of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. Quantum computers are different from traditional computers based on transistors...
    
     that would be capable of such simulations
  • Tommaso Toffoli
    Tommaso Toffoli
    Tommaso Toffoli is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Boston University. He joined the faculty in 1995. He was born in June, 1943 in Montereale Valcellina, in northeastern Italy, and was raised in Rome. He received his doctorate in physics from the University of Rome La...
    
     introduced the reversible Toffoli gate
    Toffoli gate
    In computer science, the Toffoli gate , invented by Tommaso Toffoli, is a universal reversible logic gate, which means that any reversible circuit can be constructed from Toffoli gates...
    
    , which, together with the NOT and XOR
    XOR gate
    The XOR gate is a digital logic gate that implements an exclusive or; that is, a true output results if one, and only one, of the inputs to the gate is true . If both inputs are false or both are true , a false output results. Its behavior is summarized in the truth table shown on the right...
    
     gates provides a universal set for quantum computation.

• 1982 - Paul Benioff proposes the first recognisable theoretical framework for a quantum computer

• 1984 – Charles Bennett
  Charles H. Bennett (computer scientist)
  Charles H. Bennett is an IBM Fellow at IBM Research. Bennett's recent work at IBM has concentrated on a re-examination of the physical basis of information, applying quantum physics to the problems surrounding information exchange...
  
   and Gilles Brassard
  Gilles Brassard
  Gilles Brassard was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1955. He received a Masters degree from the Université de Montréal in 1975, and obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University in 1979, working in the field of cryptography with John Hopcroft as his advisor...
  
   employ Wiesner's conjugate coding for distribution of cryptographic keys.

• 1985 – David Deutsch
  David Deutsch
  David Elieser Deutsch, FRS is an Israeli-British physicist at the University of Oxford. He is a non-stipendiary Visiting Professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation in the Clarendon Laboratory of the University of Oxford...
  
  , at the University of Oxford
  University of Oxford
  The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
  
  , described the first universal quantum computer. Just as a Universal Turing machine
  Universal Turing machine
  In computer science, a universal Turing machine is a Turing machine that can simulate an arbitrary Turing machine on arbitrary input. The universal machine essentially achieves this by reading both the description of the machine to be simulated as well as the input thereof from its own tape. Alan...
  
   can simulate any other Turing machine efficiently, so the universal quantum computer is able to simulate any other quantum computer with at most a polynomial
  Polynomial
  In mathematics, a polynomial is an expression of finite length constructed from variables and constants, using only the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and non-negative integer exponents...
  
   slowdown.

1990s

• 1991 – Artur Ekert
  Artur Ekert
  Artur Ekert is a Professor of Quantum Physics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, and a Lee Kong Chian Centennial Professor at the National University of Singapore and also the Director of CQT...
  
   at the University of Oxford, invents entanglement
  Quantum entanglement
  Quantum entanglement occurs when electrons, molecules even as large as "buckyballs", photons, etc., interact physically and then become separated; the type of interaction is such that each resulting member of a pair is properly described by the same quantum mechanical description , which is...
  
   based secure communication.

• 1993 – Dan Simon, at Université de Montréal
  Université de Montréal
  The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
  
  , invented an oracle
  Oracle machine
  In complexity theory and computability theory, an oracle machine is an abstract machine used to study decision problems. It can be visualized as a Turing machine with a black box, called an oracle, which is able to decide certain decision problems in a single operation. The problem can be of any...
  
   problem for which a quantum computer would be exponentially faster
  Exponential growth
  Exponential growth occurs when the growth rate of a mathematical function is proportional to the function's current value...
  
   than conventional computer. This algorithm
  Algorithm
  In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
  
   introduced the main ideas which were then developed in Peter Shor
  Peter Shor
  Peter Williston Shor is an American professor of applied mathematics at MIT, most famous for his work on quantum computation, in particular for devising Shor's algorithm, a quantum algorithm for factoring exponentially faster than the best currently-known algorithm running on a classical...
  
  's factoring
  Factoring
  Factoring can refer to the following:* A form of commercial finance - see factoring ; structured settlement factoring transaction* Factorization, a mathematical concept* Factoring a design, as in code refactoring...
  
   algorithm.

• 1994
  • Peter Shor
    Peter Shor
    Peter Williston Shor is an American professor of applied mathematics at MIT, most famous for his work on quantum computation, in particular for devising Shor's algorithm, a quantum algorithm for factoring exponentially faster than the best currently-known algorithm running on a classical...
    
    , at AT&T's Bell Labs
    Bell Labs
    Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
    
     in New Jersey
    New Jersey
    New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
    
    , discovers an important algorithm. It allowed a quantum computer to factor large integers quickly. It solved both the factoring problem and the discrete log problem. Shor's algorithm
    Shor's algorithm
    Shor's algorithm, named after mathematician Peter Shor, is a quantum algorithm for integer factorization formulated in 1994...
    
     could theoretically break many of the cryptosystem
    Cryptosystem
    There are two different meanings of the word cryptosystem. One is used by the cryptographic community, while the other is the meaning understood by the public.- General meaning :...
    
    s in use today. Its invention sparked a tremendous interest in quantum computers.
  • First United States Government workshop on quantum computing is organized by NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in autumn.
  • In December, Ignacio Cirac, at University of Castilla-La Mancha
    University of Castilla-La Mancha
    The University of Castilla-La Mancha, offers courses in the cities of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Toledo, Almadén, Talavera de la Reina and Puertollano. This university was recognised by law on 39 June 1982, and began to operate three years later....
    
     at Ciudad Real
    Ciudad Real
    Ciudad Real is a city in Castile-La Mancha, Spain, with a population of c. 74,000. It is the capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It has a stop on the AVE high-speed rail line and has begun to grow as a long-distance commuter suburb of Madrid, located 115 miles to the north. A high capacity...
    
    , and Peter Zoller
    Peter Zoller
    Peter Zoller is a theoretical physicist from Austria. He is Professor at the University of Innsbruck and works on quantum optics and quantum information and is best known for his pioneering research on quantum computing and quantum communication and for bridging quantum optics and solid state...
    
     at the University of Innsbruck proposed an experimental realization of the controlled-NOT
    Controlled NOT gate
    The Controlled NOT gate is a quantum gate that is an essential component in the construction of a quantum computer. It can be used to disentangle EPR states...
    
     gate with trapped ions.

• 1995
  • First United States Department of Defense
    United States Department of Defense
    The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
    
     workshop on quantum computing and quantum cryptography
    Quantum cryptography
    Quantum key distribution uses quantum mechanics to guarantee secure communication. It enables two parties to produce a shared random secret key known only to them, which can then be used to encrypt and decrypt messages...
    
     is organized by United States Army
    United States Army
    The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
    
     physicists Charles M. Bowden, Jonathan P. Dowling, and Henry O. Everitt; it takes place in February at the University of Arizona
    University of Arizona
    The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
    
     in Tucson.
  • Peter Shor
    Peter Shor
    Peter Williston Shor is an American professor of applied mathematics at MIT, most famous for his work on quantum computation, in particular for devising Shor's algorithm, a quantum algorithm for factoring exponentially faster than the best currently-known algorithm running on a classical...
    
     and Andrew Steane
    Andrew Steane
    Andrew Martin Steane is Professor of physics at the University of Oxford. He is also a fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.He was a student at St Edmund Hall, Oxford where he obtained his MA and DPhil....
    
     simultaneously proposed the first schemes for quantum error correction
    Quantum error correction
    Quantum error correction is used in quantum computing to protect quantum information from errors due to decoherence and other quantum noise. Quantum error correction is essential if one is to achieve fault-tolerant quantum computation that can deal not only with noise on stored quantum...
    
    . (An alternative to quantum error correction exploits special states that are immune to certain errors. This device is known as a decoherence-free subspaces.)
  • Christopher Monroe and David Wineland at NIST (Boulder, Colorado
    Boulder, Colorado
    Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
    
    ) experimentally realize the first quantum logic gate – the C-NOT gate – with trapped ions, according to Cirac and Zoller's proposal.

• 1996
  • Lov Grover
    Lov Grover
    Lov Kumar Grover is an Indian-American computer scientist. He is the originator of the Grover database search algorithm used in quantum computing. He obtained his undergraduate degree at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi...
    
    , at Bell Labs, invented the quantum database search algorithm
    Grover's algorithm
    Grover's algorithm is a quantum algorithm for searching an unsorted database with N entries in O time and using O storage space . It was invented by Lov Grover in 1996....
    
    . The quadratic
    Quadratic
    In mathematics, the term quadratic describes something that pertains to squares, to the operation of squaring, to terms of the second degree, or equations or formulas that involve such terms...
    
     speedup is not as dramatic as the speedup for factoring, discrete logs, or physics simulations. However, the algorithm can be applied to a much wider variety of problems. Any problem that had to be solved by random, brute-force search, could now have a quadratic speedup.
  • The United States Government, particularly in a joint partnership of the Army Research Office (now part of the Army Research Laboratory
    Army Research Laboratory
    The Army Research Laboratory is the U.S. Army's corporate research laboratory. ARL is headquartered at the Adelphi Laboratory Center in Adelphi, Maryland. Its largest single site is at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland...
    
    ) and the National Security Agency
    National Security Agency
    The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
    
    , issues the first public call for research proposals in quantum information processing.
  • David P. DiVincenzo, from IBM, proposed a list of minimal requirements for creating a quantum computer.

• 1997
  • David Cory
    David Cory
    David G. Cory is a professor at the University of Waterloo, as of 2011.He is working that the Institute for Quantum Computing, and is also associated with the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology....
    
    , Amr Fahmy and Timothy Havel, and at the same time Neil Gershenfeld
    Neil Gershenfeld
    Neil Gershenfeld is a professor at MIT and the head of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, a sister lab spun out of the popular MIT Media Lab. His research interests are mainly in interdisciplinary studies involving physics and computer science, in such fields as quantum computing, nanotechnology,...
    
     and Isaac L. Chuang at MIT
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
    
     published the first papers realising gates for quantum computers based on bulk spin resonance, or thermal ensembles. The technology is based on a nuclear magnetic resonance
    Nuclear magnetic resonance
    Nuclear magnetic resonance is a physical phenomenon in which magnetic nuclei in a magnetic field absorb and re-emit electromagnetic radiation...
    
     (NMR) machine, which is similar to the medical magnetic resonance imaging
    Magnetic resonance imaging
    Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
    
     machine.
  • Alexei Kitaev described the principles of topological quantum computation as a method for combating decoherence.
  • Daniel Loss
    Daniel Loss
    Daniel Loss is a professor of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Basel. With David P. DiVincenzo , he proposed the Loss-DiVincenzo quantum computer in 1997, which would use electron spins in quantum dots as qubits....
    
     and David P. DiVincenzo proposed the Loss-DiVincenzo quantum computer
    Loss-DiVincenzo quantum computer
    The Loss-DiVincenzo quantum computer is a scalable semiconductor-based quantum computer proposed by Daniel Loss and David P. DiVincenzo in 1997. The proposal was to use as qubits the intrinsic spin-1/2 degree of freedom of individual electrons confined to quantum dots...
    
    , using as qubits the intrinsic spin-1/2 degree of freedom of individual electrons confined to quantum dots.

• 1998
  • First experimental demonstration of a quantum algorithm. A working 2-qubit NMR
    Nuclear magnetic resonance
    Nuclear magnetic resonance is a physical phenomenon in which magnetic nuclei in a magnetic field absorb and re-emit electromagnetic radiation...
    
     quantum computer used to solve Deutsch's problem was demonstrated by Jonathan A Jones and Michele Mosca
    Michele Mosca
    Michele Mosca is co-founder and deputy director of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, researcher and founding member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and professor of mathematics in the department of at the University of Waterloo...
    
     at Oxford University
    University of Oxford
    The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
    
     and shortly after by Isaac L. Chuang at IBM
    IBM
    International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
    
    's Almaden Research Center
    Almaden Research Center
    The IBM Almaden Research Center is in San Jose, California, and is one of IBM's nine worldwide research labs. Its scientists perform basic and applied research in computer science, services, storage systems, physical sciences, and materials science and technology. The center opened in 1986, and...
    
     together with coworkers at Stanford University
    Stanford University
    The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
    
     and MIT
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
    
    .
  • First working 3-qubit NMR computer.
  • First execution of Grover's algorithm
    Grover's algorithm
    Grover's algorithm is a quantum algorithm for searching an unsorted database with N entries in O time and using O storage space . It was invented by Lov Grover in 1996....
    
     on an NMR computer.

• 1999 – Samuel L. Braunstein
  Samuel L. Braunstein
  Samuel Leon Braunstein is a professor in the Computer Science department at the University of York, UK. He is a member of a research group in non-standard computation, and has a particular interest in quantum information and quantum computation.Braunstein has written or edited three books, and has...
  
   and collaborators showed that there was no mixed state quantum entanglement in any bulk NMR experiment. Pure state quantum entanglement is necessary for any quantum computational speedup, and thus this gave evidence that NMR computers would not yield benefit over classical computer. It was still an open question as to whether mixed state entanglement is necessary for quantum computational speedup

2000–2004

• 2000
  • First working 5-qubit NMR computer demonstrated at the Technical University of Munich
    Technical University of Munich
    The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
    
    .
  • First execution of order finding (part of Shor's algorithm) at IBM
    IBM
    International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
    
    's Almaden Research Center
    Almaden Research Center
    The IBM Almaden Research Center is in San Jose, California, and is one of IBM's nine worldwide research labs. Its scientists perform basic and applied research in computer science, services, storage systems, physical sciences, and materials science and technology. The center opened in 1986, and...
    
     and Stanford University
    Stanford University
    The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
    
    .
  • First working 7-qubit NMR computer demonstrated at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
    Los Alamos National Laboratory
    Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
    
    .

• 2001
  • First execution of Shor's algorithm at IBM
    IBM
    International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
    
    's Almaden Research Center
    Almaden Research Center
    The IBM Almaden Research Center is in San Jose, California, and is one of IBM's nine worldwide research labs. Its scientists perform basic and applied research in computer science, services, storage systems, physical sciences, and materials science and technology. The center opened in 1986, and...
    
     and Stanford University
    Stanford University
    The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
    
    . The number 15 was factored using 10¹⁸ identical molecules, each containing seven active nuclear spins.
  • Noah Linden and Sandu Popescu proved that the presence of entanglement is a necessary condition for a large class of quantum protocols. This, coupled with Brauenstein's result (see 1999 above), called the validity of NMR quantum computation into question.
  • Emanuel Knill, Raymond Laflamme, and Gerard Milburn show that optical quantum computing is possible with single photon sources, linear optical elements, and single photon detectors, launching the field of linear optical quantum computing.

• 2002 – The Quantum Information Science and Technology Roadmapping Project, involving some of the main participants in the field, laid out the Quantum computation roadmap.

• 2003 – Todd D. Pittman and collaborators at Johns Hopkins University
  Johns Hopkins University
  The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
  
  , Applied Physics Laboratory
  Applied Physics Laboratory
  The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , located in Howard County, Maryland near Laurel and Columbia, is a not-for-profit, university-affiliated research center employing 4,500 people. APL is primarily a defense contractor. It serves as a technical resource for the Department of...
  
   and independently Jeremy L. O'Brien
  Jeremy O'Brien
  Jeremy O'Brien is a physicist who researches in quantum optics, optical quantum metrology and quantum information science...
  
   and collaborators at the University of Queensland
  University of Queensland
  The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
  
  , demonstrate quantum controlled-not gates using only linear optical elements.,

• 2004 – First working pure state NMR quantum computer (based on parahydrogen) demonstrated at Oxford University and University of York
  University of York
  The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
  
  .

2005

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
  
   scientists demonstrate quantum entanglement of multiple characteristics, potentially allowing multiple qubits per particle.
• Two teams of physicists have measured the capacitance of a Josephson junction for the first time. The methods could be used to measure the state of quantum bits in a quantum computer without disturbing the state.
• In December, the first quantum byte, or qubyte, is announced to have been created by scientists at The Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, with the formal paper published in the December 1 issue of Nature
  Nature (journal)
  Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
  
  .
• Harvard University
  Harvard University
  Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
  
   and Georgia Institute of Technology
  Georgia Institute of Technology
  The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
  
   researchers succeeded in transferring quantum information between "quantum memories" – from atoms to photons and back again.

2006

• Materials Science Department of Oxford University, cage a qubit in a buckyball
  Fullerene
  A fullerene is any molecule composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube. Spherical fullerenes are also called buckyballs, and they resemble the balls used in association football. Cylindrical ones are called carbon nanotubes or buckytubes...
  
   (a Buckminster fullerene particle), and demonstrated quantum "bang-bang" error correction.

• Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
  
   use the Zeno Effect
  Quantum Zeno effect
  The quantum Zeno effect is a name coined by George Sudarshan and Baidyanath Misra of the University of Texas in 1977 in their analysis of the situation in which an unstable particle, if observed continuously, will never decay. One can nearly "freeze" the evolution of the system by measuring it...
  
  , repeatedly measuring the properties of a photon to gradually change it without actually allowing the photon to reach the program, to search a database without actually "running" the quantum computer.
• Vlatko Vedral of the University of Leeds and colleagues at the universities of Porto and Vienna found that the photons in ordinary laser light can be quantum mechanically entangled with the vibrations of a macroscopic mirror.
• Samuel L. Braunstein
  Samuel L. Braunstein
  Samuel Leon Braunstein is a professor in the Computer Science department at the University of York, UK. He is a member of a research group in non-standard computation, and has a particular interest in quantum information and quantum computation.Braunstein has written or edited three books, and has...
  
   at the University of York
  University of York
  The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
  
   along with the University of Tokyo and the Japan Science and Technology Agency gave the first experimental demonstration of quantum telecloning.
• Professors at the University of Sheffield develop a means to efficiently produce and manipulate individual photons at high efficiency at room temperature.
• New error checking method theorized for Josephson junction computers.
• First 12 qubit quantum computer benchmarked.
• Two dimensional ion trap developed for quantum computing.
• Seven atoms placed in stable line, a step on the way to constructing a quantum gate, at the University of Bonn.
• A team at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands created a device that can manipulate the "up" or "down" spin-states of electrons on quantum dots.
• University of Arkansas develops quantum dot molecules.
• Spinning new theory on particle spin brings science closer to quantum computing.
• University of Copenhagen develops quantum teleportation between photons and atoms.
• University of Camerino scientists develop theory of macroscopic object entanglement, which has implications for the development of quantum repeaters.
• Tai-Chang Chiang, at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, finds that quantum coherence can be maintained in mixed-material systems.
• Cristophe Boehme, University of Utah, demonstrates the feasibility of reading spin-data on a silicon-phosphorus quantum computer.

2007

• Subwavelength waveguide developed for light.
• Single photon emitter for optical fibers developed.
• New material proposed for quantum computing.
• Single atom single photon server devised.
• First use of Deutsch's Algorithm in a cluster state quantum computer.
• University of Cambridge
  University of Cambridge
  The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
  
   develops electron quantum pump.
• Superior method of qubit coupling developed.
• Successful Demonstration of Controllably Coupled Qubits
  Quantum coupling
  Quantum Coupling is an effect in quantum mechanics in which two or more quantum systems are bound such that a change in one of the quantum states in one of the systems will cause an instantaneous change in all of the bound systems...
  
  .
• Breakthrough in applying spin-based electronics
  Spintronics
  Spintronics , also known as magnetoelectronics, is an emerging technology that exploits both the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-state devices.An additional effect occurs when a spin-polarized current is...
  
   to silicon
  Silicon
  Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
  
  .
• Scientists demonstrate quantum state exchange between light and matter.
• Diamond quantum register developed.
• Controlled-NOTquantum gates on a pair of superconducting quantum bits realized.
• Scientists contain, study hundreds of individual atoms in 3D array.
• Nitrogen in buckyball used in quantum computing.
• Large number of electrons quantum coupled.
• Spin-orbit interaction of electrons measured.
• Atoms quantum manipulated in laser light.
• Light pulses used to control electron spins.
• Quantum effects demonstrated across tens of nanometers.
• Light pulses used to accelerate quantum computing development.
• Quantum RAM blueprint unveiled.
• Model of quantum transistor developed.
• Long distance entanglement demonstrated.
• Photonic quantum computing used to factor number by two independent labs.
• Quantum bus developed by two independent labs.
• Superconducting quantum cable developed.
• Transmission of qubits demonstrated.
• Superior qubit material devised.
• Single electron qubit memory.
• Bose-Einstein condensate quantum memory developed
• D-Wave Systems
  D-Wave Systems
  D-Wave Systems, Inc. is a quantum computing company, based in Burnaby, British Columbia. On May 11, 2011, D-Wave System announced D-Wave One, labeled "the world's first commercially available quantum computer," and also referred to it as an adiabatic quantum computer using quantum annealing to...
  
   claims to have working 28-qubit quantum computer, though this claim has yet to be verified.
• New cryonic method reduces decoherence and increases interaction distance, and thus quantum computing speed.
• Photonic quantum computer demonstrated.

2008

• Graphene quantum dot qubits
• Quantum bit stored
• 3D qubit-qutrit entanglement demonstrated
• Analog quantum computing devised
• Control of quantum tunneling
• Entangled memory developed
• Superior NOT gate developed
• Qutrits developed
• Quantum logic gate in optical fiber
• Superior quantum Hall Effect discovered
• Enduring spin states in quantum dots
• Molecular magnets proposed for quantum RAM
• Quasiparticles offer hope of stable quantum computer
• Image storage may have better storage of qubits
• Quantum entangled images
• Quantum state intentionally altered in molecule
• Electron position controlled in silicon circuit
• Superconducting Electronic Circuit Pumps Microwave Photons
• Amplitude spectroscopy developed
• Superior quantum computer test developed
• Optical frequency comb devised
• Quantum Darwinism supported
• Hybrid qubit memory developed
• Qubit stored for over 1 second in atomic nucleus
• Faster electron spin qubit switching and reading developed
• Possible non-entanglement quantum computing
• D-Wave Systems
  D-Wave Systems
  D-Wave Systems, Inc. is a quantum computing company, based in Burnaby, British Columbia. On May 11, 2011, D-Wave System announced D-Wave One, labeled "the world's first commercially available quantum computer," and also referred to it as an adiabatic quantum computer using quantum annealing to...
  
  claims to have produced a 128 qubit computer chip, though this claim has yet to be verified.

2009

• Carbon 12 purified for longer coherence times
• Lifetime of qubits extended to hundreds of milliseconds
• Quantum control of photons
• Quantum entanglement demonstrated over 240 micrometres
• Qubit lifetime extended by factor of 1000
• First Electronic Quantum Processor Created
• Single molecule optical transistor
• NIST reads, writes individual qubits
• NIST demonstrates multiple computing operations on qubits
• A combination of all of the fundamental elements required to perform scalable quantum computing through the use of qubits stored in the internal states of trapped atomic ions shown
• Researchers at University of Bristol demonstrate Shor's algorithm on a silicon photonic chip
• Quantum Computing with an Electron Spin Ensemble
• Scalable flux qubit demonstrated
• Photon machine gun developed for quantum computing
• Quantum algorithm developed for differential equation systems
• First universal programmable quantum computer unveiled
• Scientists electrically control quantum states of electrons
• Google collaborates with D-Wave Systems on image search technology using quantum computing
• A method for synchronizing the properties of multiple coupled CJJ rf-SQUID flux qubits with a small spread of device parameters due to fabrication variations was demonstrated

2010

• Ion trapped in optical trap
• Optical quantum computer with three qubits calculated the energy spectrum of molecular hydrogen to high precision
• First germanium laser brings us closer to 'optical computers'
• Single electron qubit developed
• Quantum state in macroscopic object
• New quantum computer cooling method developed
• Racetrack ion trap developed
• 5/2 quantum Hall liquids developed
• Quantum interface between a single photon and a single atom demonstrated
• LED quantum entanglement demonstrated
• Two photon optical chip
• Microfabricated planar ion traps
• Qubits manipulated electrically, not magnetically

2011

• Ten billion atoms quantum entangled
• NOON photons in superconducting quantum integrated circuit
• Quantum antenna
• Multimode quantum interference
• Magnetic Resonance applied to quantum computing
• Quantum pen
• Atomic "Racing Dual"
• 14 qubit register
• D-Wave claims to have developed quantum annealing and introduces their product called D-Wave One. The company claims this is the first commercially available quantum computer
• Repetitive error correction demonstrated in a quantum processor
• Diamond quantum computer memory demonstrated
• Qmodes developed
• Decoherence suppressed
• Simplification of controlled operations
• Ions entangled using microwaves
• Practical error rates achieved
• Quantum computer employing Von Neumann architecture
• Quantum spin Hall topological insulator