Quantum computers today are notoriously difficult and expensive to operate. Most require temperatures near absolute zero, about -459 degrees Fahrenheit, to maintain the fragile quantum states needed for computation and communication. Now, researchers at Stanford University have developed a nanoscale optical device that functions at room temperature while linking the quantum properties of light and electrons. The advance could help pave the way for smaller, lower-cost quantum technologies capable of transmitting information across long distances. The new device enables entanglement between photons, the particles that make up light, and electrons. This quantum connection is considered a fundamental requirement for future quantum communication systems. "The material in question is not really new, but the way we use it is," says Jennifer Dionne, a professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford and senior author of the study published in Nature Communications .…