The ideas behind Quantum Information Processing (QIP) began to appear about twenty years ago and theoretical developments have been appearing ever since. Over the last decade quantum experiments have begun to realize QIP and point the way towards the routes for future quantum information technology. This review is a simple introduction to QIP for non-experts. It discusses the basic ideas of and the underpinning quantum theory needed to understand them, as well as various applications and algorithms, and some of the main candidate routes for realizing QIP.
Quantum information processing (QIP) has become a hot research topic as evidenced by S. Haroche and D. J. Wineland receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2012. Various MEMS-based microfabrication methods will be a key enabling technology in implementing novel and scalable ion traps for QIP. This paper provides a brief introduction of ion trap devices, and reviews ion traps made using conventional precision machining as well as MEMS-based microfabrication. Then, microfabrication methods for ion traps are explained in detail. Finally, current research issues in microfabricated ion traps are presented. The QIP renders significant new challenges for MEMS, as various QIP technologies are being developed for secure encrypted communication and complex computing applications.