Modular Design: IBM's Big Quantum Computer

Uploaded on 2025-01-07 in TECHNOLOGY-Key Areas-Quantum Computing, NEWS-Cybersecurity News, FREE TO VIEW

IBM wants to build the largest quantum computer by linking together smaller machines to create one with a recording-breaking number of quantum bits, or qubits.

The firm’s first steps on this path in 2025 should see it hit a new qubit record. Eventually, IBM plans to more than triple the size of the largest existing quantum computer.

To achieve this, IBM is adopting a modular design strategy. By connecting several smaller quantum processors, the company plans to create a more powerful, 'parallelised' machine.

While IBM no longer holds the record for the most qubits, a title claimed by start-up Atom Computing with its 1180-qubit device unveiled in 2023, it is determined to reclaim its position as a leader in the field. Jay Gambetta, IBM’s vice president of quantum computing, emphasised the need for new approaches to scaling up. “We know we can’t just make Condor but 10 times bigger,” Gambetta has said. “The only way to get quantum advantage is to combine different components.”

This innovation represents a significant leap forward for IBM, which unveiled its first commercial quantum computer six years ago. That device, which was equipped with 20 qubits, was accessible to researchers via the Internet.

This approach addresses a critical engineering challenge: the difficulty of fitting an increasing number of qubits and their corresponding input and output wires onto a single chip.

As part of its modular strategy, IBM has already prototyped a new chip called Flamingo, which will play a central role in its plans for 2025. The company intends to connect three Flamingo chips into a 1386-qubit system, breaking current size records.

Moving to 2026, IBM aims to introduce another chip, named Kookaburra, as a foundational component for a 4158-qubit quantum computer.

This system, comprising three interconnected Kookaburra chips, would create an unprecedented technological gap between IBM and its competitors in both commercial and academic quantum computing. In November 2023, IBM connected two of its 127 qubit chips to perform a calculation involving 142 qubits, a task that exceeded the capacity of either chip individually.

The success of IBM’s modular quantum computers depends on the development of specialised couplers, components that enable connections between chips and individual qubits at varying distances. IBM has already built and used two types of couplers, but a third, essential for fully modular quantum systems, remains under development.

The next challenge is scaling up the total number of qubits while minimising the errors that occur when chips are interconnected.

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Image: Bartlomiej Wroblewski

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