Global quantum performance record broken by Oxford Ionics

Constructing stable, high-performance quantum computers is an immense challenge, requiring the creation and scalable control of high-performance qubits. Trapped ions are the only technology that has demonstrated the necessary performance to build a practical quantum computer. However, until now, scaling trapped ions has been problematic due to their typical control via lasers.

Oxford Ionics resolved this issue by developing a patented Electronic Qubit Control system, which eliminates the need for laser control of qubits. This innovative, embedded approach utilises the highest performing qubit technology - trapped ions - and integrates everything required to control them into a silicon chip that can be mass-produced using conventional semiconductor manufacturing methods.

Oxford Ionics achieved industry records in both two-qubit gate and single-qubit gate performance (fidelity). Previous world records were set using error correction to mitigate hardware errors. Oxford Ionics’ chips delivered over twice the performance without the need for error correction, using ten times fewer qubits:

• Demonstrated implementation of two-qubit gates with fidelities at the 99.97% level.
• Demonstrated implementation of single-qubit operations with 99.9992% fidelity.

Building a functional quantum computer necessitates high-performing single and two-qubit gate operations. The significant increase in qubit performance by Oxford Ionics means powerful quantum computers can be constructed with far fewer qubits, enabling valuable commercial applications to be deployed without the need for complex and expensive error correction techniques.

Combined with the scalability of Oxford Ionics' approach, these results suggest that practical quantum computing is much closer than previously anticipated. With proven engineering, Oxford Ionics is set to develop a scalable 256-qubit chip that can be produced on existing semiconductor production lines.

Dr Michael Cuthbert, Director of the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre, said: “The new results mark a pivotal step forwards in ion trap quantum computing and validates the scalability of the technology. The reported one and two qubit gate results outperform other players’ achievements to date, meaning error correction becomes achievable with minimal overheads. This performance underpins the proprietary architecture Oxford Ionics will deliver to the National Quantum Computing Centre as part of our Quantum Computing Testbed procurement and we are really excited to see both how this will be deployed, and how we will be able to use these ultra-high performance qubits for the development of algorithms and new applications.”

Dr Chris Ballance, Co-Founder and CEO of Oxford Ionics, said: “The industry’s biggest players have taken different paths towards the goal of making quantum computing a reality. From the outset, we have taken a ‘rocket ship’ approach - focusing on building robust technology by solving the really difficult challenges first. This has meant using novel physics and smart engineering to develop scalable, high performance qubit chips that do not need error correction to get to useful applications, and can be controlled on a classic semiconductor chip. Since we started in 2019, we have hit every target on our roadmap on time and today’s results validate our confidence in our approach. We are now able to focus on the commercialisation of our technology and delivering useful quantum computing at scale.”

Dr Tom Harty, Co-Founder and CTO at Oxford Ionics, said: “When you build a quantum computer, performance is as important as size - increasing the number of qubits means nothing if they do not produce accurate results. We have now proven that our approach has delivered the highest level of performance in quantum computing to date, and is now at the level required to start unlocking the commercial impact of quantum computing. This is an incredibly exciting moment for our team, and for the positive impact that quantum computing will have on society at large.”