Australian scientists claim that it is possible to develop quantum computers that work with 99% accuracy

Australian researchers say they have demonstrated that it is possible to develop "quantum computers that operate almost without errors" , opening the hope of developing devices using silicon chips compatible with fabrication technology. current semiconductors.

The study, conducted by scientists at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), was published in the scientific journal Nature on January 20.

Scientists at the University of New South Wales conducted research to develop quantum computers that work with 99% accuracy.

Unlike digital computers, quantum computers work on the operation of quantum mechanics to process input data. Quantum computers are capable of processing exponentially (in terms of qubits - units of quantum computers), which is much faster than digital computers. With just a small increase in the number of qubits, the information processing capacity of the computer also increases many times.

In practice, however, adding an extra quantity of qubits must ensure that there are no errors in the process of quantum entanglement - an effect in quantum mechanics in which the quantum states of two or more objects have interrelated, and with just a few small errors in the calculation, all efforts can be "dissipated".

Professor of Science in Quantum Engineering at UNSW and study co-author Andrea Morello said the study shows that building quantum computers has the scale and power to handle complex calculations. meaning, is workable. According to Mr. Morello, this research has demonstrated that the operation of quantum computers can reach 99% accuracy. Then, mistakes will be easily detected and corrected every time they happen.

In an interview with the press, Mr. Morello said that before this breakthrough was achieved, the error rate of quantum computers with silicon chips was a very serious problem. Attempts to correct errors often only make mistakes worse.

Mr. Morello has demonstrated that it is possible to store quantum information in a silicon chip for 35 seconds . According to Professor Morello, in the quantum world, "35 seconds is eternity" . For comparison, in Google and IBM's superconducting quantum computers, the lifetime is about 100 microseconds - nearly a million times shorter. However, in turn, isolating the qubits makes it almost impossible for them to interact with each other when necessary to perform the actual calculations. The journal Nature reveals that a team of UNSW scientists have overcome that problem by using an electron consisting of two nuclei of a phosphorus atom.

This result means that human science now has the ability to create larger and more powerful quantum computers, he says, as additional qubits can help correct rare errors.

Professor Morello said this result will set the stage for the next project, which will design a silicon quantum processor, which helps to scale and perform correctly for useful computations.