SYDNEY, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Researchers in Australia have developed a new way to detect quantum computing errors without significantly disrupting fragile quantum information, a potential step toward scalable systems.

The study demonstrates an "adaptive measurement" strategy using the nuclear spin of an antimony atom embedded in a silicon chip. The system encodes information across eight quantum states, allowing "extra room to detect and correct errors that may occur during the calculation," said a statement from Australia's University of New South Wales (UNSW) on Thursday.

Improving quantum error correction is a major hurdle in building large-scale quantum computers, it said. The UNSW team addressed this by modifying how measurements are performed: instead of repeatedly probing all possible states, the system stops after the first positive signal and then checks only the remaining states.

Absence of further signals increases confidence in the initial result without additional disturbance, according to the study published in PRX Quantum.

Researchers liken the approach to identifying a hidden cat by stopping at the first "meow" and confirming its location by silence elsewhere.

According to study lead author Arjen Vaartjes, UNSW PhD candidate, the method reduced measurement errors by more than half and improved confidence to 99.61 percent, while cutting the total measurement time to one-third.

The approach could improve mid-circuit measurements in quantum error correction, key to scalable quantum computing applications such as drug discovery, chemical simulation, financial optimization and machine learning, the team said.