The first ever calculation on an optical quantum chip has been performed at the University of Bristol.

The chip uses single particles of light, or photons, passing through it to carry out calculations. Although in this experiment it was only a simple sum finding the prime factors of 15 - it marks the first step towards building a quantum supercomputer, according to the university

Alberto Politi, one of the PhD students who performed the experiment, said in a statement: "This task could be done much faster by any school kid, but this is a really important proof-of-principle demonstration."

The university has said that finding prime factors is imperative to modern-day encryption schemes so this could have further implications for secure communication technologies.

"As well as quantum computing and quantum metrology, on-chip' photonic quantum circuits could have important applications in quantum communication, since they can be easily integrated with optical fibres to send photons between remote locations," added Politi.

Professor Jeremy O'Brien, director of the Centre for Quantum Photonics, who led the research, is hopeful about where this could lead in the future. In a statement he said: "The really exciting thing about this result is that it will enable the development of large scale quantum circuits for photons. This opens up all kinds of possibilities."