Nord Quantique has announced it has been accepted into stage A of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI).
The company is one of a handful emanating from around the world which have been accepted into this prestigious program. This acceptance is based on Nord Quantique’s advanced approach to quantum error correction, which is designed to progress efficiently to utility scale. This multi-year initiative will roll out in several stages, with companies achieving certain milestones being retained for successive stages and winning contracts based on their performance.
DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative builds upon that organization’s previous Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing program. QBI seeks to determine the metrics which will have to be reached to deliver industrially useful quantum computers that can make a genuine impact in verticals such as energy distribution, defence, healthcare and a range of other applications. Simply put, QBI will determine if utility-scale quantum computing can in fact be achieved within a ten-year timeline, and contrast what that level of computational power will make possible when compared against today’s classical computers.
“Knowing that DARPA sees the potential in our technology and has invited us to be a part of this program is very gratifying. We view this acceptance as evidence that the technology we’ve been developing holds tremendous potential and will ultimately deliver useful quantum computing in the medium term” said Julien Camirand-Lemyre, CEO and Co-founder of Nord Quantique. “Our approach is based on qubits encoded with bosonic codes and is one-of-a-kind in quantum computing. This distinct combination of scalable hardware and fault-tolerant design allows us to achieve compelling error correction results today. However, the key is that this technology will also scale to useful levels without relying on redundancies of thousands of qubits in large a physical overhead. We therefore anticipate delivering useful quantum systems which are just a fraction of the size of some competing designs, and consume substantially less power. We believe in our technology, and we know how we’re going to reach utility scale.”
Nord Quantique is developing multi-mode bosonic qubits for its quantum computers, which allow the company to build its quantum error correction technology up to utility-scale. Multi-mode refers to the ability to encode quantum information using multiple microwave frequencies within a single qubit. The intrinsic redundancy of this method allows for the correction of multiple types of errors, including bit flips, phase flips, control errors and other types of disruptions which can occur in quantum systems during computation. Unlike some competing technologies, this approach does not require thousands of physical qubits to correct for every logical qubit stricken by errors as it performs computations. Instead, Nord Quantique expects its devices to have a 1:1 ratio of physical qubits to logical qubits.
Being part of QBI will help Nord Quantique’s efforts to develop utility scale quantum computers by verifying and validating the technology, communicating results to key stakeholders, and competing for contracts. Those accepted into stage A will receive $1 million to detail their concept. Those then moving on to stage B will receive up to $15 million to focus on a baseline R&D plan. And finally, those selected for stage C may receive up to $300 million if utility scale quantum computers can be built based on their design and operate as intended.
Nord Quantique will release promising results from its latest experimental work on quantum error correction later this spring.
