Amazon Web Services announces Ocelot a new quantum computing chip
New ‘Ocelot’ chip uses scalable architecture for reducing error correction by up to 90% and accelerating the development of real-world quantum computing applications.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced Ocelot, a new quantum computing chip that can reduce the costs of implementing quantum error correction by up to 90%, compared to current approaches. Developed by the team at the AWS Center for Quantum Computing at the California Institute of Technology, Ocelot represents a breakthrough in the pursuit to build fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of solving problems of commercial and scientific importance that are beyond the reach of today’s conventional computers.
AWS used a novel design for Ocelot’s architecture, building error correction in from the ground up and using the ‘cat qubit’. Cat qubits–named after the famous Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment–intrinsically suppress certain forms of errors, reducing the resources required for quantum error correction. Through this new approach with Ocelot, AWS researchers have, for the first time, combined cat qubit technology and additional quantum error correction components onto a microchip that can be manufactured in a scalable fashion using processes borrowed from the microelectronics industry.
History shows that important advancements in computing have been made by fundamentally rethinking hardware components, as this can have a significant impact on cost, performance, and even the feasibility of a new technology. The computer revolution truly took off when the transistor replaced the vacuum tube, enabling room-sized computers to be shrunk down into today’s compact and much more powerful, reliable, and lower-cost laptops. Choosing the right building block to scale is critical, and today’s announcement represents an important step in developing efficient means to scaling up to practical, fault-tolerant quantum computers.
“With the recent advancements in quantum research, it is no longer a matter of if, but when practical, fault-tolerant quantum computers will be available for real-world applications. Ocelot is an important step on that journey,” said Oskar Painter, AWS director of Quantum Hardware. “In the future, quantum chips built according to the Ocelot architecture could cost as little as one-fifth of current approaches, due to the drastically reduced number of resources required for error correction. Concretely, we believe this will accelerate our timeline to a practical quantum computer by up to five years.”
AWS researchers have published their findings in a peer-reviewed research paper in Nature. You can also read a more technical article about Ocelot on the Amazon Science website.
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