IBM Shows Off a Quantum Computing Chip
A new superconducting chip made by IBM demonstrates a technique crucial to the development of quantum computers
Tom Simonite | April 29, 2015
When cooled down to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero, the four dark elements at the center of the circuit in the middle of this image can represent digital data using quantum mechanical effects.
IBM’s new chip is the first to integrate the basic devices needed to build a quantum computer, known as qubits, into a 2-D grid.
“The chips we roll out will be able to solve very profound problems,” he says. As an example, Rigetti cites the Haber-Bosch process, used to manufacture ammonia for fertilizer production, which has been estimated to consume 2 percent of the world’s energy. Devising a more efficient catalyst for the reaction could be extremely valuable.Rigetti aims to ultimately set up a kind of quantum-powered cloud computing service, where customers pay to run problems on the company’s superconducting chips. It is also working on software to make it easy for other companies to write code for its quantum hardware.
<more at https://www.technologyreview.com/s/537041/ibm-shows-off-a-quantum-computing-chip/; related links: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600711/the-tiny-startup-racing-google-to-build-a-quantum-computing-chip/ (The Tiny Startup Racing Google to Build a Quantum Computing Chip. Rigetti Computing is working on designs for quantum-powered chips to perform previously impossible feats that advance chemistry and machine learning. February 8, 2016) and https://www.technologyreview.com/s/535621/google-researchers-make-quantum-computing-components-more-reliable/ (Google Researchers Make Quantum Computing Components More Reliable. Researchers from a university and Google demonstrate a crucial error-correction step needed to make quantum computing practical. March 4, 2015)>
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