August 21, 2024 Repost from Universal Quantum. -- Quantum computers with millions of qubits are essential to solving some of humanity's toughest challenges. Integrating key qubit control electronics into the quantum chip architecture that holds the qubits is critical to achieving that scale.
Universal Quantum announces a key advancement in enabling trapped-ion quantum computing at the million-qubit scale: The company has developed the first commercial Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip for integration into Universal Quantum’s fully integrated Quantum Processing Units (iQPU). This novel chip boasts a host of features:
- Built-in enabler of UQConnect, which is Universal Quantum’s powerful link technology capable of directly transferring qubits between chip modules at a world record rate of 2400 1/s and fidelity of 99.999993%, with further enhancements anticipated
- Built-in enabler of UQLogic, which is Universal Quantum’s ultra-efficient microwave technology capable of controlling qubits at any scale
- Facilitation of highly efficient execution of quantum algorithms at any scale through enhanced connectivity between qubits
- Solves the 'wiring problem' common in quantum computing
- Can operate at Universal Quantum’s architecture temperature of 70K
- Will enhance quantum error correction by at least a factor of six by enabling qubit connectivity at scale.
This breakthrough is a testament to Universal Quantum’s relentless focus on developing solutions that allow its machines to reach the million-qubit scale as quickly as possible.
Universal Quantum uses a radical modular approach to elevate quantum computing into an era of delivering solutions for humanity. Universal Quantum’s fully integrated quantum computing modules (iQPUs) host a number of high-quality trapped ion qubits controlled using UQLogic (microwave system). Individual iQPUs are then connected using UQConnect (record-breaking chip link technology) to naturally scale to millions of qubits.
Dr. Mike Newman, Head of Integration and Systems Engineering, remarked, “Our advanced packaging techniques and in-house developed cryogenic integrated circuit libraries have paved the path to this major milestone. These technologies allow us to fully integrate the qubit control systems directly into the qubit chip architecture, not only unlocking scalability but also improving noise performance, response times and power efficiency, something near impossible with other quantum computing architectures that operate at temperatures much lower than ours.”
Prof. Sebastian Weidt, CEO of Universal Quantum, added, "Humanity demands a million-qubit quantum computer. While we continue to see beautiful small scale prototype machines emerge, we must also develop engineering solutions fit for million qubit systems. Reaching the million-qubit scale is a marathon and we are only at the start of that race but without scalable engineering solutions built in right from the start, it may be impossible to ever reach the finish line. This achievement is testament to our unique engineering philosophy and a splendid example of the exciting things we are doing at Universal Quantum. I could not be prouder of our team’s dedication and innovation, and for continuously delivering what many people thought was impossible.”
Universal Quantum announces a major research breakthrough
Universal Quantum, a leading innovator in scalable quantum computing, announces a significant advancement in the potential for fault-tolerant quantum computation and bridging performance gaps across various quantum platforms through the research work of Kwok Ho Wan (Quantum Error Correction Scientist at Universal Quantum), Mark Webber (Quantum Architecture Lead at Universal Quantum), and Winfried K. Hensinger (Chief Scientist at Universal Quantum and Head of Ion Quantum Technology Group at the University of Sussex); in collaboration with Austin G. Fowler (Staff Research Scientist at Google).
This research was propelled by Universal Quantum's vision to leverage the unique properties of trapped-ions, and enable them to be shuttled over long distances for two-qubit operations with minimal fidelity loss – contributing to refined connectivity and therefore facilitating scaling.
Key highlights of the research:
Transversal logical CNOT gates: A key development is the transversal CNOT gate, which consists of physical CNOT operations between distant physical qubits to give rise to a CNOT operation between two logical qubits. However, these operations lead to correlated errors that if left untreated would drastically reduce performance. The team has developed a highly resource efficient way to correct for such errors by creating a decoder that can track and correct the errors under realistic noise conditions. This advancement in decoding is crucial for making quantum error correction work when using transversal CNOT gates.
Multi-pass iterative decoder: This academic collaboration between scientists from Universal Quantum, the University of Sussex and Google led to the development of an innovative decoder that addresses correlated errors effectively, enabling trapped-ion quantum computers to benefit from the execution of transversal CNOT gates. This decoder is a game-changer as it minimises QEC rounds and therefore improves overall performance.
Performance comparison: lattice surgery vs. transversal CNOT: The findings show that the transversal CNOT reduces the time complexity of QEC rounds to O(1), which improves on the nearest neighbour approach of lattice surgery by a large factor (the code distance of the code), significantly enhancing computational efficiency.
Practical implications and future research:
Efficiency and resource optimisation: By lowering the time complexity of such a critical operation, transversal CNOT operations enable slower yet more connected systems like trapped ions to achieve efficiency comparable to faster locally connected systems. This is pivotal for realising quantum advantage applications in the fault-tolerant regime.
Hardware-specific error models: Further detailed analysis of different hardware error models is planned to fully understand their impact on transversal CNOT performance, allowing for more tailored and effective resource estimation processes.
Research conclusion:
The team’s research demonstrates that a multi-pass iterative decoder can decode transversal CNOT operations within O(1) code cycles, paving the way for efficient use of quantum hardware with long-range connectivity.
The minimisation of the number of QEC rounds required marks a significant step towards speeding up quantum computation and as such enables practical and scalable fault-tolerant quantum computing – which is in perfect alignment with Universal Quantum scaling ambition towards the one million qubit mark and beyond.
Implications for the future of quantum computing:
High-fidelity long-range qubit connectivity, coupled with specialized decoding techniques, can vastly improve efficiency and performance. Universal Quantum’s advancements promise to bridge the performance gaps across various quantum computing platforms, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in this rapidly evolving field.
About Universal Quantum
Our Mission: Solve scale. Change the world.
Quantum computers have the potential to overcome some of humanity’s greatest challenges. To realise this potential, we need to build machines that scale. This is what we do at Universal Quantum. We are a team of passionate engineers, scientists, and operational staff, driven by a shared mission: to build the technology that will transform our world. We are building utility-scale quantum computers based on a robust, modular, and practical blueprint, in partnership with leading organizations and investors in the field.