If Microsoft successfully builds on this research, it could become a serious competitor in the race to develop the first reliable quantum computers.
Not every day can we expect miracles, but that was an exception when Microsoft gave a breakthrough announcement that it could develop quantum computers within years rather than decades.
Quantum computers can solve complex problems that classical computers take years or even decades to solve.
The technology company has created a chip that mirrors the invention of semiconductors that enables the miniaturization and increased processed power of today’s smartphones, computers, and electronics.
The chip was based on the first topoconductor ever developed, which can create a new state of matter that is neither solid, liquid, nor gas. As a peer-reviewed study in Nature reported, it is possible to design a quantum system that fits on a single chip, smaller than the palm of a hand, and creates more reliable hardware.
Paul Stevenson, a professor at the University of Surrey, claimed that if Microsoft successfully builds on this research, it could become a serious competitor in the race to develop the first reliable quantum computers.
He stated that the new papers are a significant advancement, as in the case of many promising quantum computing works. Since the next few steps are challenging, one should be cautiously optimistic until the next step is completed.
George Booth, a theoretical physics professor at King’s College London, is impressed by the research but affirms that the value would be worthy only in retrospect.
They claim that the chip will be invented in years instead of decades and can be proved accurate only in the future.
Microsoft asserts that the topoconductor provides a way to develop quantum systems that can accommodate up to a million qubits, a delicate building block of quantum computers, and correspond to the ones and zeros used in the current computers.
It could produce the most powerful computers to date, based on quantum mechanics rather than classical physics, and be able to solve highly complex industrial and societal problems.
It might involve decomposing microplastics into harmless byproducts, developing self-healing construction, manufacturing or healthcare materials, solving complex logistics supply chain issues, or cracking encrypted messages.
US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) selected Microsoft’s topoconductor as one of the two pathways to quantum computing that it is investigating within a program aimed at assessing whether it is possible to construct industrially beneficial quantum computers by 2033, which is faster than forecasts.
PsiQuantum created the other method. This method uses silicon photonics, a technology that uses light waves to build a quantum computer based on a lattice structure of photonic qubits.
Microsoft previously claimed they had developed topological qubits but later withdrew their claim after they found scientific errors.
Booth stated that Microsoft has been slow in progress compared to other firms. But it had focused on the long game by working on a system inherently more resistant to noise and interference than delicate basic quantum computers that competitors have built for several years.
These topological qubits protect the information by using the properties of a new class of emergent particle called Majorana fermion, making it more difficult for the figures to be lost while processing.
He added that there is an added layer of complexity involved in developing these qubits compared to competing architectures.
These Majorana particles are never been seen or created by anyone before.
Microsoft stated that they require magnetic fields and superconductors to be gently encouraged into existence, which is why most quantum computing research focuses on an alternative approach.
Booth noted that the research showed progress toward a very different platform that could compete with the most advanced technologies developed by companies such as Google; however, he emphasized that work is still needed to enable the technology to scale up.