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Engineers have built a quantum processor from silicon qubits that runs on standard electronics and operates a thousand times quieter than its predecessors.
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A quantum computer is like an orchestra where every musician must play their part perfectly, or the melody falls apart. Previously, controlling qubits — the quantum 'musicians'—required a room full of equipment, and every extra wire added noise. The engineers behind this work assembled a compact silicon chip with 18 qubits and placed the control electronics right next to it, inside a refrigerator colder than outer space.
Here, the qubits are tiny traps for electrons, etched into silicon. Electrons behave like spinning tops: their spin can point up or down, representing the two states of a qubit. Instead of poking each electron with a separate signal, the authors used trios of electrons that interact with each other. Such an 'exchange' qubit is easier to control and less susceptible to magnetic interference. As a result, the accuracy of single-qubit operations improved tenfold compared to previous silicon qubits.
To test the chip's reliability, the scientists ran a code that detects and corrects errors. Called the repetition code with distance 5, it uses five qubits to store one bit of information, so even if one qubit fails, the others have its back.
The main takeaway isn't just a record, but a path to mass production. Silicon is the same material used to make conventional processors. That means the factories that print chips for phones today could also print quantum chips. And control via standard electronics means a quantum computer won't require exotic infrastructure. The orchestra finally fits in your pocket and plays without missing a beat.
Commercially-relevant quantum computers will require large numbers of high-performing qubits that can be manufactured, integrated, and controlled at scale. Silicon exchange-only (EO) qubits are a strong candidate modality due to their control-signal simplicity and compatibility with advanced semiconductor manufacturing, but questions remain around the achievability of sufficiently low noise and a scalable control and wiring solution. Here we introduce a quantum processing unit composed of a custom-designed cryogenic CMOS controller, a novel high-density superconducting ribbon cable, and a low-noise EO qubit device. The quantum chip features a three-rail array of 54 exchange-coupled quantum dots, configurable to host up to 18 EO qubits. We integrate and use these components to demonstrate qubit performance for both single-qubit and entangling operations that advances the EO state of the art by an order of magnitude. We further validate this system by implementing a distance-5 repetition code and a quantum error detecting code then make detailed comparisons with simulations. Our approach facilitates a utility-scale quantum computer with manageable operational and capital requirements.
