Together, they’ve ushered in a revolutionary era of quantum computing. In collaboration with researchers at Harvard, MIT and the University of Maryland, they have demonstrated logical qubits that perform quantum operations orders of magnitude faster than bare physical qubits. This announcement, made in 2023, represents the beginning of a new exciting chapter within the ever-changing landscape of quantum technology.
QuEra’s integrated, innovative quantum computer cools a gas of neutral atoms to just above absolute zero. This unique technique allows scientists to control neutral atoms with a high degree of precision. This unique approach to quantum computing is a major breakthrough. Today, even smaller machines practically run many different protocols to actively and robustly detect and correct qubit errors. As the research community continues to mainstream next generation, large-scale quantum systems, the merit of QuEra’s work is far-reaching.
The Role of Logical Qubits
Logical qubits are collections of physical qubits that together hold one logical qubit’s worth of information. This particular encoding is key for error correction and is central to realizing reliable quantum computations. Boston-based QuEra has constructed a potentially game-changing quantum computer with about 1,000 qubits. The truth is the team continues to struggle against noise and errors.
The shift to logical qubits is crucial, as researchers make progress to a more robust and scalable quantum ecosystem. By sending three zeros in a row, the quantum machine can automatically sense and correct the errors. This sharp technique shows the strength of the approach, particularly when a single bit flips. The research team is convinced that there are compelling benefits to utilizing neutral atoms. This new paradigm would increase scalability and ease of processing, likely propelling new leaps in quantum processing potential.
“Because of the unique capabilities of neutral atoms, we have shown that we can create a 50x or 100x speedup over what previously was thought.” – Yuval Boger
The Path to Large-Scale Quantum Computing
The path to realizing large-scale quantum computing has been long and complex, starting as far back as the 1980s. Researchers envision a future where machines equipped with hundreds of thousands or even millions of qubits can perform complex computations efficiently. The third stage of development is the real crux of the ERC program — producing error-corrected machines at scale and at sufficient quality to be useful.
As one example, QuEra just recently shipped a quantum device that is error correction-ready. This amazing milestone accomplishment was created for Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). This machine exemplifies the potential of neutral atom technology to scale effectively while addressing the critical issue of error rates in quantum computations.
Challenges remain. Calculations on atomic systems are already one-hundredth to one-thousandth as fast as the calculations they do on their superconducting siblings. Precisely placing a large number of neutral atoms offers a distinct advantage. This edge is even greater than that of conventional superconducting qubits etched onto silicon wafers. This new capability for detailed positioning in development could enable even more efficient computations as the technology matures.
“If there’s one word, it’s scalability. That’s the key benefit of neutral atoms.” – Justin Ging
QuEra plans to make its quantum machine available to customers around the world by 2026. As you might imagine, everyone excited about the promise of quantum computing is on pins and needles awaiting this exciting news. Srinivas Prasad Sugasani, Microsoft’s vice president of quantum, is bullish about what’s to come. He’s convinced that after many long years of hard work, things are beginning to bear fruit.
The buzz around this timeline among industry leaders is through the roof. Sugasani remarked, “We feel very excited about the year 2026 because lots of work that happened over the last so many years is coming to fruition now.” This hope is further supported by the strong conviction that major advances in quantum computing capabilities are just around the corner.
From the outset, experts have been bullish on error correction technology. Others maintain that it wouldn’t actually be required to reach large-scale quantum computing. Jerry Chow, director of quantum systems at IBM Quantum, suggests that focusing solely on error correction could overlook the broader potential applications of quantum circuits.
“I think that kind of level framing…is a very physics-device-oriented view of the world, and we should be looking at it more from a computational view of the world, which is, what can you actually use these circuits for and enable?” – Jerry Chow