IonQ says new approach with barium ions as qubits will bring about a wave of advantages in quantum computing architectures.
PRESS RELEASE — IonQ, Inc. , a leader in quantum computing, today announced that it plans to use barium ions as qubits in its systems, bringing about a wave of advantages it believes will enable advanced quantum computing architectures.
IonQ is the first quantum computing company able to harness more than one atomic species as qubits, having built its systems to date with ytterbium ions. Now, IonQ (TQI: IonQ) plans to use barium ions to build systems that are designed to be faster, more powerful, more easily interconnected, and that feature more uptime for customers.
“IonQ builds the world’s most powerful quantum computers, and the ability to build systems with barium qubits will help us bring our customers even closer to realizing the commercial benefits of quantum,” said Peter Chapman, President and CEO of IonQ. “We believe the advanced architectures enabled by barium qubits will be even more powerful and more scalable than the systems we have been able to build so far, opening the door to broader applications of quantum computing.”
“IonQ builds the world’s most powerful quantum computers, and the ability to build systems with barium qubits will help us bring our customers even closer to realizing the commercial benefits of quantum.”
IonQ expects the key benefits of quantum computers based on barium qubits to include:
Lower error rates, higher gate fidelity, and better state detection. IonQ’s quantum computers already outperform industry peers, as demonstrated in an industry study by the Quantum Economic Development-Consortium in October. IonQ expects barium qubits to improve the performance of its quantum gates and qubit measurement, leading to even more useful quantum computers.
A foundation for iterable, more reliable hardware, with more uptime for customers. Barium qubits are controlled primarily with visible light—rather than ultraviolet light—allowing IonQ to build its future quantum computers with standard silicon photonics technology. Visible light devices are easier to source and more reliable than their ultraviolet equivalents. Using standard technology will allow IonQ to scale its computers and replace components more easily, providing more computing time for customers than ever before.
More easily networked quantum systems. IonQ plans to connect multiple quantum processing units together with light, creating a modular system with greatly improved processing power. Barium qubits pave the way for higher levels of device integration and easier networking of multiple systems.
“We believe that the addition of barium qubits to IonQ systems opens up tremendous technical opportunities for making our systems more scalable, more reliable, and easier to build,” said Jungsang Kim, Co-Founder and CTO of IonQ. “By leveraging the inherent advantages of barium qubits, we plan to access new features for building advanced quantum computers that we believe will be relevant for solving critical societal problems.”
This announcement builds upon a series of technology milestones achieved by IonQ in recent months. IonQ’s future systems will include specially designed Evaporated Glass Traps (EGTs), which were introduced earlier this year as a means to make trapped ion technology even more stable and accurate. Earlier this year, IonQ also unveiled a reconfigurable multicore quantum architecture (RMQA), which IonQ expects to rapidly increase the number of qubits in each system. IonQ believes its systems are poised to continue exceeding expectations with the use of barium qubits.
About IonQ IonQ, Inc. is a leader in quantum computing, with a proven track record of innovation and deployment. IonQ’s next-generation quantum computer is the world’s most powerful trapped-ion quantum computer, and IonQ has defined what it believes is the best path forward to scale. IonQ is the only company with its quantum systems available through the cloud on Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as through direct API access. IonQ was founded in 2015 by Christopher Monroe and Jungsang Kim based on 25 years of pioneering research. To learn more, visit www.ionq.com.
With a several-decades long background in journalism and communications, Matt Swayne has worked as a science communicator for an R1 university for more than 12 years, specializing in translating high tech and deep tech for the general audience. He has served as a writer, editor and analyst at The Quantum Insider since its inception. In addition to his service as a science communicator, Matt also develops courses to improve the media and communications skills of scientists and has taught courses.
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