A team of researchers at the University of Chicago has claimed to have developed a way to observe, control, and manipulate the behavior of a single electron with the help of lasers.

To observe, control and manipulate the behavior of a single electron at the quantum mechanical level, the team of researchers made use of laser light in ultrafast pulses. The laser light successfully managed the quantum state of electron present inside nanoscale defect, which is found in naturally-found diamonds.

The instrument was also able to observe and track the properties of the single electron, as well as how the electron changes over a set period of time. At the center of the study is a quantum spin system, which is also called nitrogen-vacancy center.

David Awschalom, the lead author of the study, said that it was a test-bed system for creating and developing semiconductor quantum bits and other microscopic technology.

The research means that scientists have moved a step closer to molecular computing and faster information processing. Quantum computing technologies are expected to provide a much faster as well as more convenient way of computing in the future.

The detailed findings of the research published in online journal Science Express.