Micsosoft has finally unveiled the world’s first quantum chip, called Majorana 1, powered by topological qubits and capable of scaling to one million qubits on a single chip.
It is the first quantum processing unit (QPU) and was built with a new class of materials called topoconductors.
Majorana 1 “employs eight topological qubits using indium arsenide, which is a semiconductor, and aluminum, which is a superconductor.” The company has posted on its blog that the development of a quantum computer is necessary precisely to understand these new materials.
The use of topoconductors “allows the creation of topological superconductivity, a new state of matter that previously existed only in theory. The breakthrough stems from Microsoft’s innovations in the design and manufacture of gate-defined devices that combine indium arsenide (a semiconductor) and aluminum (a superconductor). When cooled to near absolute zero and tuned with magnetic fields, these devices form topological superconducting nanowires with Majorana zero modes (MZM) at the ends of the wires.”
Microsoft’s development has generated much speculation. But we still have to wait for tests and projects, not only with the Majorana 1 chip but with quantum computers as well as foreseeing their use in research such as the creation of new molecules.
M.Pino
With information from Microsoft News and national and international media
(Reference image source: Matthew Manuel on Unsplash)
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