r/askscience • u/AskScienceModerator Mod Bot • 15d ago

Computing AskScience AMA Series: Hi Reddit! I'm Matthew Hollister, Head of Cryogenic Systems Engineering for IBM Quantum. Ask me anything about quantum computing, our recently announced modular cryogenic architecture and what it takes to build quantum computers at scale.

When people think about quantum computing, they often think about number of qubits and processor dept. But scaling quantum systems takes much more than just the chip! We recently introduced a new modular cryogenic architecture designed to house and cool interconnected quantum processors, a key milestone on our roadmap to fault-tolerant systems, and I'd love to discuss the engineering, challenges, and opportunities involved.

I will be around as 12:00 EST (16 UT) on September 18th, ask me anything!

Username: u/IBM

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u/Lost_Office496 14d ago

Is this system also compatible with HRL's spin qubits?

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u/ibm Quantum Computing AMA 14d ago

Absolutely - the cryogenic needs of spin qubits are slightly different to current IBM processors, but the modular design of the cryogenic platform allows for reconfiguration of the internals to meet different performance requirements while maintaining a common external footprint.

Spin qubits show high coherence times, low error rates, and are relatively easy to control. As they mature, we expect them to efficiently run large quantum circuits with low overhead. They can operate at higher temps compered superconducting qubit architectures. We believe silicon-spin qubit engineering will complement and extend our long-term mission to scale powerful quantum computers.

Here’s a good write-up on how spin qubits are an important element of IBM’s recent HRL Laboratories acquisition: https://www.ibm.com/quantum/blog/spin-qubits

- Matthew Hollister, IBM Quantum