Major Breakthrough: Equal1 demonstrates world-leading performance for a silicon qubit array and a complex quantum controller chip.
Scalability with Silicon: Leveraging existing silicon infrastructure paves the way for scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computing.
Advanced Control Electronics: Introduction of the world's first multi-tile Quantum Controller Chip operates at cryogenic temperatures.
Equal1, a global leader in silicon-powered quantum computing, has announced a significant breakthrough in the quantum computing industry. The company has demonstrated both world-leading performance for a silicon qubit array and developed the most complex quantum controller chip to date. These advancements mark a critical inflection point for Equal1 and the quantum computing sector, highlighting the potential of silicon as the foundation for scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computers.
The breakthrough was achieved with a 6-qubit array fabricated using a silicon germanium (SiGe) CMOS-compatible process. The single qubit gate achieved a fidelity of 99.4% with a gate speed of 84 nanoseconds, while the two-qubit gate reached a fidelity of 98.4% with a gate speed of 72 nanoseconds. These metrics demonstrate Equal1’s ability to produce high-performance qubits necessary for building powerful, error-corrected quantum computer processors using existing silicon chip foundries.
"Today marks a critical inflection point for Equal1 and the quantum computing industry. Equal1 has always believed that silicon is the vehicle to scale quantum computers and today, with these world-leading qubit and control chip results, we have taken a major step towards this vision."
— Elena Blokhina, Chief Scientific Officer, Equal1
Equal1's innovation doesn't stop at qubits. The company has also introduced the world's first multi-tile Quantum Controller Chip as part of its UnityQ Quantum-System-on-Chip platform. Operating at an impressive 300 millikelvin, the chip is powered by Arm Cortex cores and is designed to scale to millions of orchestrated qubits on a single chip. This advancement is set to revolutionize quantum computing scalability by integrating advanced control electronics that function efficiently at cryogenic temperatures.
"This result demonstrates the massive benefit of silicon qubits – the ability to achieve the performance required for scaling in two key areas – fidelity and speed of quantum gates."
— Nodar Samkharadze, Chief Quantum Architect, Equal1
The new Quantum Controller Chip features Equal1’s patented AI-enabled Qubit Adaptive Error Correction, which is tuned for each tile under the support of the Arm Cortex processor. This unique approach facilitates real-time error correction and provides the flexibility to utilize current and future error correction algorithms, enhancing the overall functionality and reliability of quantum computing systems.
Brendan Barry, Chief Technology Officer of Equal1, emphasized the strategic partnership with Arm: "Equal1 is on a mission to deliver scalable Quantum computing using commercial silicon CMOS, and our partnership with ARM is a testament to that approach. We are excited about the collaboration underway with ARM as we look to deliver our integrated UnityQ processor roadmap in the years ahead."
Dermot O’Driscoll, Vice President of Product Solutions at Arm, added, “Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize data processing for multiple uses, ranging from complex financial modeling to life-saving drug discovery. With the integration of Arm technology at cryogenic temperatures, Equal1 is at the forefront of building a next-generation Quantum System-on-Chip, and we look forward to continuing our work with them to advance the future of quantum computing.”
