As the many tech giants continue to race towards quantum supremacy, Microsoft has announced a breakthrough core technology with the release of their quantum processor, the Majorana 1 chip. This new quantum processor is a revolution in stability and scalability, utilizing an entirely new material and state of matter. In the same way that smartphones use semiconductors, the Majorana 1 uses topoconductors, a new type of chip that Microsoft says offers the path to scaling to millions of qubits in years not decades.

The “Scale” Problem of Quantum Machines

Decades of research and billions of dollars have poured into quantum computing, but it’s largely remained in an experimental phase. Why? The answer is error correction and qubit stability. Just as classical computers use binary bits today, quantum computers rely on units of information called qubits. The primary issue with scaling quantum machines is the sensitivity of qubits to noise. In other words, the delicate quantum states of qubits tend to collapse too quickly to disturbances in the environment, making large-scale quantum computations incredibly difficult. Microsoft’s Majorana 1 chip proposes a radically different approach with the use of topological qubits and a new state of matter.

The Majorana 1 Chip: The Key to Scaling Quantum Computers?

When we think of states of matter, we naturally think of solids, liquids, and gasses. But in physics, there are also exotic states of matter that exist under very special or extreme conditions. Topological qubits use Majorana zero modes, which are special quantum states that exist only when utilizing topological superconductors. These quantum states act like tethers between the quantum fabric, allowing properties to be determined by the global mathematical structures of the system, rather than the local arrangements. Information from these topological qubits is stored non-locally, meaning errors from environmental noise have little effect on them. Unlike traditional superconducting or trapped-ion qubits, topological qubits are theoretically more stable as they encode information in a way that makes them naturally more stable and resistant to errors. By using topological qubits, Microsoft aims to drastically reduce the number of error-correcting qubits in the system, making it much easier to scale quantum processors in a commercial application.

Why is This a Big Deal for the Quantum Future?

The announcement of Majorana 1 marks a significant milestone in the path to quantum discovery. If topological qubits work on a larger scale as they are expected, they could dramatically reduce the number of physical qubits needed to create error-free logical qubits, making scalable quantum computers a real possibility. This breakthrough also reflects the wide array of new practices being taken in the race towards the quantum future. Microsoft’s new discovery isn’t just about computing – its discovery confirms a new exotic state of matter, a phenomenon in physics that has been hypothesized since 1937 after Ettore Majorana predicted Majorana fermions, hypothetical particles that serve as the foundation for the Majorana 1 chip.

How Majorana 1 Compares to IBM and Google’s Quantum Processors

Despite rapid progress in quantum computing, the biggest roadblock for companies like IBM & Google remains by and large the error rates of quantum bits. For years, leaders in quantum computing have primarily used superconducting qubits, or tiny circuits that store quantum information using superconducting currents. While highly successful in demonstrating quantum advantages, they are highly prone to errors due to noise & disturbances in the environment. Most quantum systems are highly sensitive to their surroundings and disturbances such as thermal noise, electromagnetic interference or crosstalk errors between qubits can lead to unintended state changes, leading to inaccuracies in computations. The cost to correct these errors is far more demanding than in classical computing and requires complex and costly builds utilizing cooling systems, control electronics, hardware and more. This is why IBM and Google, despite having some of the most advanced quantum machines today, have yet to scale commercially viable, fault tolerant computers.

What’s Next for Quantum Computing?

Microsoft has taken a completely different approach to building better error correction systems, rather than an elimination approach to error correction itself. With the release of the Majorana 1 chip, they very well may have built and intrinsically more stable and fault-tolerant quantum processor. If so, the Majorana 1 chip could leapfrog industry-leading incumbents, leading to a simpler, more stable and scalable approach to commercial viability of quantum computers. Microsoft’s topological systems could allow quantum computers to scale up much more efficiently, reducing the amount of error-correcting logical qubits in a system to thousands, instead of the millions needed today. While the Majorana 1 chip marks an exciting milestone in quantum research, there are still significant hurdles to overcome. Topological qubits have yet to be proven in large-scale, real-world quantum computations – and even if successful, scaling production of Majorana chips remains an engineering challenge. Today, the company has put 8 topological qubits on a chip with the goal to scale it to one million. Reaching the next leg of the quantum computing race, however, will require a quantum architecture providing a million qubits or more and reaching trillions of fast, reliable operations. Although topological qubits are still in an experimental stage, if proven successful, they could drastically accelerate the timeline towards achieving commercialized, fault-tolerant quantum machines.