Quantum computing is one of the next big leaps we’re looking forward to in technology. This extremely powerful way of computing will turn our basic bits of ones and zeroes into qubits with the property of being both or neither at the same time. It will be huge for processing power, enabling far more complex computing problems to be solved than ever before. It will also be incredibly dangerous (opens in new tab) for our current computing lifestyle.
This is why it’s good in some ways that quantum computing is still a long way off for most of us. It’s hard to develop right now, but researchers are finding clever solutions every day. Recently, we’ve seen teams find a way to drastically reduce cooling costs (opens in new tab) from millions to only thousands of dollars. Now, AOL (opens in new tab) Researchers from the University of Sussex and Universal Quantum have found a way to move qubits between computer chips much better than before.
One of the many hurdles of quantum computing is getting more of those damn qubits into machines. The more qubits one of these evil bois fills, the more powerful it can be. Although it’s not necessarily as easy as popping more qubits in.
Right now, when we think of quantum computers, we generally think of hundreds of qubits. IBM is always pushing the envelope (opens in new tab) and is currently the proud owner of the world’s largest quantum computer sitting at 433 qubits. Although if you’re looking for computers you could actually buy, then you’re looking at getting about 3 qubits for $58,000 USD (opens in new tab). Scientists hope to develop million-qubit machines to tackle life’s problems, and these researchers may have just cracked the code to stuffing more qubits into quantum machines.
These researchers have come up with a modular approach, which allows the chips to fit together a bit like pieces of a puzzle. You can only store so many qubits on a chip, so the solution is to make these chips pluggable. The researchers used electric fields to connect the chips and the qubits can move between them, breaking world records for both speed and accuracy.
Not only do they achieve a success rate of 9.999993% and a connection rate of 2424/s, but they are also able to preserve the quantum properties of the qubit. This signals the potential for highly scalable and stable quantum computing. Which could be huge for AI (opens in new tab) and just in time for the anticipated quantum apocalypse (opens in new tab).
As with most of the research we see on the cutting edge, I wouldn’t expect to see these solutions implemented any time soon. There is likely to be much more testing, and we are probably too far away to see any qubits in the family home. Furthermore, there are still many solutions needed before we can go truly quantum. Once they’re done curing cancer and solving climate change, I can’t wait to see what the future of PC gaming looks like when we do.