Universal Quantum unveils iQPU, an all-in-one trapped-ion chip

Quantum computing company Universal Quantum has unveiled iQPU, a trapped-ion quantum processor (an approach that uses ions held in place by electric fields as qubits). The company said on November 3 that the chip combines control electronics, a large computing area and chip-to-chip connection technology on a single chip.

The iQPU’s computing area exceeds 400 mm². It uses a quantum charge-coupled device (QCCD) architecture, in which ions are moved around the chip to perform operations. The chip was made on a 200 mm commercial semiconductor foundry line, and its chip-to-chip module connection technology is called UQConnect.

The iQPU will go into the systems the company builds for customers. These include two scalable quantum computers under a contract worth less than 67 million euros with the German Aerospace Center (DLR, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt). The company recently raised more than $100 million in a Series A round.

Mike Newman, vice president of engineering at Universal Quantum, said, “Scalable quantum computers cannot be built by adding qubits one at a time and piling up complexity.” [check original quote]

The trapped-ion approach offers high accuracy, but scalability, or increasing the number of qubits, is considered its main challenge. Universal Quantum’s strategy is to solve this with commercial semiconductor processes and chip-to-chip connections. However, the source article gives no performance figures such as qubit count or gate fidelity.

Source: Universal Quantum

Related articles

• Only 5 errors in 1 million operations: Quantinuum breaks the 99.9995% logical-qubit fidelity barrier (in Korean)
• Connectivity and accuracy proven by Quantinuum’s 98-qubit quantum computer ‘Helios’ (in Korean)

This article was translated from the Korean edition of Science Monitor with AI assistance and reviewed by our editors.