Amazon could use the synthetic diamond technology in its AWS network. Credit: Milad Fakurian on Unsplash.

Amazon has forged a new research collaboration with a unit of mining company De Beers Group, to develop artificial diamonds for quantum networking.

Under the partnership, De Beers’ Element Six will be working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Centre for quantum networking.

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Quantum networks use quantum repeaters that allow the transfer of quantum information over long distances, without compromising the quality of data.

The diamonds will be used in the quantum repeaters that function as amplifiers.

AWS, which provides cloud computing services, could eventually end up using the technology in its networks.

Antia Lamas-Linares, who runs the Center for Quantum Networking, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying: “We want to make these networks for AWS.”

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According to Linares, the technology will be in use within “years rather than decades” from now.

Given that a sizeable portion of the world’s processing and data storage is handled by Amazon, it wants to stay abreast of any technological developments that could offer it an advantage over competitors such as Microsoft and Google.

For Element Six, the alliance could pave way for a new use case for synthetic diamonds and their potential to be used in quantum computing could be a huge opportunity.

Due to its optical and quantum characteristics, diamond is particularly advantageous for applications in quantum networking and communications.

However, the lack of broad access to various diamond grades and morphologies has long been a problem for the industry.

Recently, Element Six established a facility in Oregon with the capacity to produce up to two million pieces of such specialised diamonds annually.