Scientists have developed a method of encoding information with light that is ten billion times more resistant to errors compared with other methods, taking us another step closer to a functioning quantum computer.

By using the quantum properties of subatomic particles such as photons, ‘packets’ of light, quantum computers could solve problems out of the reach of today’s versions. But storing quantum data, called qubits, on light introduces ‘noise’ from quantum-level fluctuations, leading to computational errors.

Now, researchers from Hokkaido University and Kyoto University in Japan have developed an approach that ‘squeezes’ the photons when information is being encoded, reducing the fluctuations generated by electromagnetic fields.