By ADAM ZEWE, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 28, 2024

Researchers developed a modular fabrication process to produce a quantum-system-on-chip that integrates an array of artificial atom qubits onto a semiconductor chip. Credit: Sampson Wilcox and Linsen Li, RLE, edited

A new quantum-system-on-chip enables the efficient control of a large array of qubits, advancing toward practical quantum computing.

Researchers at MIT and MITRE have developed a scalable, modular quantum hardware platform, incorporating thousands of qubits on a single chip, promising enhanced control and scalability. Utilizing diamond color centers, this new architecture supports extensive quantum communication networks and introduces an innovative lock-and-release fabrication process to efficiently integrate these qubits with existing semiconductor technologies.

Quantum Computing Potential

Imagine being able to quickly solve extremely complex problems that might take the world’s most powerful supercomputer decades to crack. This is the promise of quantum computers.

However, realizing this capability requires constructing a system with millions of interconnected building blocks called qubits. Making and controlling so many qubits in a hardware architecture is an enormous challenge that scientists around the world are striving to meet.

Advancements in Quantum Hardware

Toward this goal, researchers at MIT and MITRE have demonstrated a scalable, modular hardware platform that integrates thousands of interconnected qubits onto a customized integrated circuit. This “quantum-system-on-chip” (QSoC) architecture enables the researchers to precisely tune and control a dense array of qubits. Multiple chips could be connected using optical networking to create a large-scale quantum communication network.

By tuning qubits across 11 frequency channels, this QSoC architecture allows for a new proposed protocol of “entanglement multiplexing” for large-scale quantum computing.

Innovative Quantum Chip Manufacturing

The team spent years perfecting an intricate process for manufacturing two-dimensional arrays of atom-sized qubit microchiplets and transferring thousands of them onto a carefully prepared complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip. This transfer can be performed in a single step.

“We will need a large number of qubits, and great control over them, to really leverage the power of a quantum system and make it useful. We are proposing a brand new architecture and a fabrication technology that can support the scalability requirements of a hardware system for a quantum computer,” says Linsen Li, an electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) graduate student and lead author of a paper on this architecture.