Google Quantum AI Expands Neutral Atom Quantum Computing Research

Google Quantum AI is expanding its quantum computing research to include neutral atom quantum computing, which uses individual atoms as qubits, alongside superconducting. The company said in a blog post, "At Google Quantum AI, our mission has always been clear: build quantum computing for otherwise unsolvable problems. For over a decade, we have pioneered the development of superconducting quantum bits, achieving milestones like beyond-classical performance, error correction and verifiable quantum advantage that once seemed decades away. We are now increasingly confident that commercially relevant quantum computers based on superconducting technology will become available by the end of this decade. Today, we are excited to share that Google Quantum AI is expanding our quantum computing effort to include neutral atom quantum computing, which uses individual atoms as qubits. Google will accelerate our timeline to near-term milestones and broaden our impact by exploiting the complementary strengths of two modalities. Superconducting qubits have already scaled to circuits with millions of gate and measurement cycles, where each cycle takes just a microsecond. Neutral atoms, meanwhile, have scaled to arrays with about ten thousand qubits. They make up for their slower cycle times - measured in milliseconds - with a flexible, any-to-any connectivity graph that allows for efficient algorithms and error-correcting codes. The road ahead reflects these distinct starting points: an outstanding challenge for neutral atoms remains demonstrating deep circuits with many cycles, while the next task for the superconducting modality is to demonstrate computing architectures with tens of thousands of qubits. In expert jargon, we often say that superconducting processors are easier to scale in the time dimension, while neutral atoms are easier to scale in the space dimension. Investing in both approaches increases our ability to deliver on our mission, sooner. By advancing both, we cross-pollinate research and engineering breakthroughs, and can deliver access to versatile platforms tailored to different types of problems. Our neutral atoms program is built on three critical pillars: Quantum Error Correction: Adapting error correction to the connectivity of neutral atom arrays, resulting in low space and time overheads for fault-tolerant architectures. Modeling and Simulation: Utilizing Google's world-class compute resources and model-based design to simulate hardware architectures, optimize error budgets and refine component targets. Experimental Hardware Development: Realizing the hardware capabilities to manipulate atomic qubits at application scale with fault-tolerant performance..."