Helios, a US-based quantum computer, demonstrated 99.9975% fidelity in one-qubit operations, while maintaining 99.921% for two-qubit operations. This is the highest fidelity for any commercial quantum computer in the industry, paving the way for a future with fault-tolerant quantum computers. 

Considered to be the next frontier of computing, the race to build reliable quantum computers is on. Research institutes and national laboratories in countries like the US, UK and China are engaged in building the necessary support for quantum computer startups to build the future of computing. 

The superior computing capacities of quantum computers arise from quantum bits or qubits, which can store multiple values between 0 and 1 at once. However, the same qubits are also easily disturbed, introducing errors into computations.

Scientists are therefore working to develop fault-tolerant computers that deliver high fidelity, i.e., a measure of how close the quantum operation is to the value of the expected operation. 

Helios’ highest fidelity

Quantinuum’s Helios is a 98-qubit quantum computer with 50 logical qubits. Built using trapped-ion qubits, the system also integrates photonics, allowing data transfer at the speed of light through the microscopic optical channels. 

This system design has dual benefits. It helps reduce risks to quantum computing data while significantly decreasing its power consumption. Helios’ power consumption is as little as 40 kW, even though it is equipped with the world’s fastest GPUs. 

In a recent paper, Quantinuum confirmed record fidelity for its one-qubit and two-qubit operations, reaching a record of sorts when it comes to two-qubit fidelity in the quantum computing industry. Helios is the company’s most reliable quantum computer to date and is available for commercial usage as a cloud-based service. 

Yet, Quantinuum has a long way to go before quantum computers like Helios and its successors become mainstream, and it is working with the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to develop fault-tolerant computers. 

Role of SNL

As a premier engineering laboratory in the US, SNL has been tasked with assessing opportunities and threats for technologies such as quantum computing. For over two decades, the national laboratory has leveraged its expertise and engineering capacities to build and share quantum devices on various platforms. 

SNL’s partnership with Quantinuum too is part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, which was formed after Sandia researchers developed technologies in integrated photonics for trapped-ion quantum computers. 

Although Quantinuum is headquartered in Colorado, its research and development campus is in New Mexico, near SNL. The National Laboratory continues to help Quantinuum design and test new components that will be incorporated into future versions of the quantum computer. 

For instance, SNL researchers developed a new benchmarking methodology that can measure the performance of mid-circuit measurements, non-destructive readout operations that help in correcting quantum computing errors. 

“We evaluate every aspect of quantum computer performance with our commercial partners to accelerate the advent of quantum supercomputing,” said Robin Blume-Kohout, a researcher at SNL who was involved in the work.

By working with different companies and helping them solve issues will help quantum computers tackle unsolved scientific problems, Blume-Kohout added. 

The research findings were published in Nature.  

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