Microsoft and Quantinuum announced a significant milestone on Wednesday, marking a pivotal advancement in the journey towards making quantum computers a commercial reality. This breakthrough focuses on enhancing the reliability of quantum computing systems, a critical step in the ongoing race among tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and IBM to perfect quantum computing technology.
Quantum computing holds the promise of achieving computational speeds far beyond those of conventional silicon-based computers by harnessing the principles of quantum mechanics. These quantum machines have the potential to tackle scientific calculations that would otherwise be infeasible within reasonable timeframes using classical computers.
However, the key building block of quantum computers, known as a “qubit,” presents a unique challenge. Qubits are highly sensitive to disturbances, often leading to data errors. To address this challenge, quantum researchers typically employ error-correction techniques, involving the utilization of additional physical qubits to yield a smaller number of reliable and usable qubits.
In this latest development, Microsoft and Quantinuum have made significant strides in overcoming this challenge. Microsoft deployed a proprietary error-correction algorithm to Quantinuum’s physical qubits, resulting in the extraction of approximately four reliable qubits from every 30 physical ones.
Jason Zander, Microsoft’s executive vice president for strategic missions and technologies, expressed confidence in this achievement, stating that it represents the most optimal ratio of reliable qubits from a quantum chip ever demonstrated. Zander highlighted the extensive testing conducted, with over 14,000 individual experiments executed without a single error—a performance up to 800 times better than previous records.
Microsoft intends to make this technology available to its cloud computing customers in the near future, signalling a significant step towards integrating quantum computing into practical applications.
The quest for quantum supremacy often revolves around the benchmark of achieving approximately 100 reliable qubits, surpassing the capabilities of conventional supercomputers. While neither Microsoft nor Quantinuum disclosed a specific timeline for reaching this milestone, Ilyas Khan, the chief product officer of Quantinuum, suggested that the new technique could accelerate progress by at least two years or more.
This breakthrough underscores the collaborative efforts within the quantum computing community and brings the vision of commercially viable quantum computers closer to realization. As research and development continue, the implications of this advancement could revolutionize various fields, from cryptography to drug discovery, ushering in a new era of computational capabilities.
