Princeton’s Breakthrough in Quantum Computing
A group of researchers from Princeton University has created a new superconducting qubit, whose coherence time exceeds previously achieved laboratory conditions by three times. This newly developed qubit is based on the transMon qubit technology used by companies like Google and IBM. According to the university, the coherence time of the new qubit is 15 times higher than that of qubits developed by tech giants.
Quantum computers are considered a promising direction in computing technology, capable of solving tasks inaccessible to ordinary computers. One of the key parameters of a qubit is its coherence time – the period during which a qubit retains information before it’s lost. Information loss leads to errors in calculations.
The new qubit developed at Princeton addresses this issue. TransMon qubits operate at extremely low temperatures. Companies like Google and IBM use transMon qubits due to their high resistance to interference and relative ease of production. However, research has shown that increasing the coherence time of these qubits is a challenging task. The primary reason is the quality of materials used in their manufacture.
Princeton scientists, led by Nathalie de Leon and Andrew Houck, hypothesized that replacing the material might improve the situation. With the help of chemist Robert Cava, they used the rare-earth element tantalum to create a quantum circuit. Tantalum is an exceptionally durable material resistant to the aggressive cleaning methods used to remove contaminants during production. The circuit, created on a sapphire substrate, showed an increase in coherence time, but there were energy losses due to sapphire. Then the team replaced the sapphire substrate with high-quality silicon. Creating the qubit on a silicon substrate turned out to be a challenging task, but ultimately a transMon qubit was created with a coherence time 15 times greater than that of qubits developed by Google and IBM.
Potential Impact and Expert Insights
According to Houck, simply replacing Google’s Willow qubit with the one developed in Princeton would increase processor performance a thousandfold. The advantages of the new qubit grow with the increase in system size. Houck suggests that a hypothetical computer with 1000 qubits would operate roughly a billion times better than the best modern quantum computers.
Recent advancements confirm that harnessing the properties of materials like tantalum can decisively enhance qubit performance, a sentiment echoed by experts in the field who emphasize the need for robust materials to maintain coherence. As for scalability, experts debate the practical steps needed to achieve the theorized multipliers, pointing out technical and engineering challenges that accompany scaling quantum systems.
