Companies are racing to announce new tech in the quantum computing space, making progress that will help pave the way for a future breakthrough. This year's end is usually a busy time for announcements as companies try to make headway before the year wraps up.
IBM, one of the leaders in this field, has been touting its advancements in quantum computing all year long. And now it's delivering on those promises. IBM has successfully manufactured two quantum processors called Loon and Nighthawk that demonstrate a shift away from traditional heavy hex architectures to more efficient designs with higher density connections.
The new Loon processor boasts long-distance connections, which will be needed for error correction - a critical feature for users who want to test out this advanced technology. IBM has also made advancements in its algorithm for correcting errors, which were previously only tested on an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) created with AMD.
Meanwhile, Oxford Ionics, a company that was acquired by IonQ, recently announced a record-low error rate of greater than 99.99 percent fidelity for two-qubit gates. This achievement is significant because moving ions requires energy and can lead to errors, so reducing the error rate will allow researchers to perform more complex operations before the system's coherence is lost.
Quantum Art, another trapped-ion company, has also made some announcements worth noting. It recently announced a collaboration with Nvidia that resulted in a more efficient compiler for its hardware, an indication of a larger trend of companies seeking partnerships to boost their quantum computing capabilities.
In contrast to its competitors, Quantum Art uses lasers to pin ions together in clusters, allowing it to perform gates on much larger collections of ions than others. This approach could allow the company to scale better and become more efficient in the process.
IBM, one of the leaders in this field, has been touting its advancements in quantum computing all year long. And now it's delivering on those promises. IBM has successfully manufactured two quantum processors called Loon and Nighthawk that demonstrate a shift away from traditional heavy hex architectures to more efficient designs with higher density connections.
The new Loon processor boasts long-distance connections, which will be needed for error correction - a critical feature for users who want to test out this advanced technology. IBM has also made advancements in its algorithm for correcting errors, which were previously only tested on an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) created with AMD.
Meanwhile, Oxford Ionics, a company that was acquired by IonQ, recently announced a record-low error rate of greater than 99.99 percent fidelity for two-qubit gates. This achievement is significant because moving ions requires energy and can lead to errors, so reducing the error rate will allow researchers to perform more complex operations before the system's coherence is lost.
Quantum Art, another trapped-ion company, has also made some announcements worth noting. It recently announced a collaboration with Nvidia that resulted in a more efficient compiler for its hardware, an indication of a larger trend of companies seeking partnerships to boost their quantum computing capabilities.
In contrast to its competitors, Quantum Art uses lasers to pin ions together in clusters, allowing it to perform gates on much larger collections of ions than others. This approach could allow the company to scale better and become more efficient in the process.