Microsoft announced that it is using a “new state of matter” for its quantum chip called Majorana 1.
The chip is powered by a “new Topological Core architecture that [Microsoft] expects will realize quantum computers capable of solving meaningful, industrial-scale problems in years, not decades,” Microsoft explained.
A topological superconductor is described by Microsoft as a “special category of material that can create an entirely new state of matter – not a solid, liquid or gas but a topological state.”
The matter is “harnessed to produce a more stable qubit that is fast, small and can be digitally controlled, without the tradeoffs required by current alternatives.”
Chetan Nayak, Microsoft technical fellow, said, “We took a step back and said, ‘OK, let’s invent the transistor for the quantum age. What properties does it need to have? And that’s really how we got here – it’s the particular combination, the quality and the important details in our new materials stack that have enabled a new kind of qubit and ultimately our entire architecture.”
A paper on the chip published in the journal Nature explains how Microsoft researchers were “able to create the topological qubit’s exotic quantum properties and also accurately measure them, an essential step for practical computing,” the company wrote.
According to Microsoft, quantum computing “could allow engineers, scientists, companies and others to simply design things right the first time – which would be transformative for everything from healthcare to product development.”
“Any company that makes anything could just design it perfectly the first time out. It would just give you the answer,” Microsoft technical fellow Matthias Troyer said. “The quantum computer teaches the AI the language of nature so the AI can just tell you the recipe for what you want to make.”
