Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC), a start-up from the University of Oxford, is innovating in the field of superconducting quantum.
Leading superconducting quantum systems are usually built on a two-dimensional plane, but the researchers at OQC use three-dimensional architecture.
Usually, increasing the number of qubits means increasing the wiring – and on a 2D level, this carries a higher risk of generating ambient noise that can damage the quality of the system.
OQC’s 3D system removes the control and measurement wiring from the place.
According to OQC, the superconducting quantum processor becomes a more flexible and technical system by the off-chip integration of important components.
Under the name “Coaxmon,” this new design approach ultimately has the potential to simplify the number of qubits on the processor without losing consistency, the company said.
The 3D architecture makes it possible to increase the number of qubits on the processor without having to resort to detailed manufacturing steps for additional wiring and without running the risk of reducing the coherence of the system.
As a spin-out from Oxford University, OQC had developed largely in the context of university laboratories, which proved to be cheaper and focused on proving the basics of technology.
Last year, however, OQC built and opened its own quantum laboratory with the essentials needed to develop a quantum system.
The long-term goal is to build a universal, fault-tolerant quantum computer – a goal similar to that of the largest tech giants now developing quantum technologies.
OQC has now invited companies to join the company’s beta list to test how they can experiment with new quantum approaches, but with only four qubits, the range of potential applications will remain very narrow.
A long-term partnership with software company Riverlane is also in the works. The latter already uses the quantum computer from OQC to operate a chemical simulation algorithm called alpha-VQE.
The two companies have also worked together to develop a quantum operating system, Deltaflow.OS, that would allow the same quantum software to run on different types of quantum computing hardware.
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