Quantum computing

Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s (DoE’s) Brookhaven National Laboratory detailed a ‘never-seen-before’ type of quantum entanglement that could enable powerful new communications tools and computers. This discovery was made while exploring a novel means of probing the inner workings of atomic nuclei. The experiments used Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider to accelerate particles at nearly the speed of light. This is the first-ever experimental observation of entanglement between dissimilar particles.

Media reports indicate that Chinese engineers have developed the country’s first MLLAS-100 laser annealer, which will help solve instability and increase production quality when the number of quantum bits increases. The laser annealer is able to accurately remove defects in quantum chips and enhance chips’ performance when expanding to multiple bits.

Origin Quantum Computing Technology, based in Hefei, East China’s Anhui Province, developed the device. This can reach 100 nanometer ultra-high positioning accuracy to achieve the laser annealing in a single qubit. The device can be compared to a surgical device for accurately removing defects in quantum chips and enhance chips performance.

The Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA) is investing 115 million New Israeli Shekels (some US$340 million) in quantum computing research. The funding will reach a consortium consisting of five Israeli companies (IAI Group’s Elta Systems division, Quantum Art, Classiq, Qedma, and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems) and five academic groups (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Weizmann Institute of Science,  Bar-Ilan University, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and Soroka Medical Center).

The three-year programme will pursue the development of two different quantum processors, one based on superconducting technology and the other based on trapped ions technology.

The Israel Innovation Authority is an independent publicly funded agency that provides practical tools and funding platforms to address the needs of local and international innovation ecosystems.

Japan’s Riken research institute aims to integrate quantum computing technology with its Fugaku supercomputer by 2025 and enable the real-world use of quantum computing. Riken reportedly intends to establish a communications link between a quantum computer and Fugaku, the world’s second-fastest supercomputer, to overcome the need for extremely cold environments for quantum computers. The concept is to have only core calculations on the quantum machine, while Fugaku would organise and reinforce the various outputs to approach the right solution.

The institute also intends to work with a group of companies including Toyota Motor, Hitachi, and Sony Group to promote the use of computing infrastructure that combines quantum technology with supercomputers.

The European Union has granted €19 million to upgrade the existing European micro, nano, and quantum technology infrastructures and respond to a growing demand for pilot fabrication services by quantum technology companies. The new initiative, Qu-Pilot, includes 24 member organisations from 9 European countries, and it is led by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Over the next three years and a half, it will work on the development of the quantum technology infrastructure, while offering companies a direct path to design, develop, and validate their hardware products and processes on a pilot scale.

The Qu-Pilot specific grant agreement (SGA) is part of a broader EU Framework Partnership agreement (FPA) aimed at setting the roadmap and framework for the development of European pilot production capabilities in quantum technologies.

China Mobile has joined forces with Origin Quantum, a Chinese startup, to focus on quantum computing and solving the computational bottlenecks facing 5G and 6G. Under the agreement, Origin Quantum will provide quantum communication algorithms based on real machine verification.

The goal is to explore the possibility of applying quantum computing to achieve network optimization, network autonomy, network security and a metaverse.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded the University of Rochester a $1.6 million contract to work on a quantum-inspired solver system within the Quantum-Inspired Classical Computing (QuICC) programme. The aim is to develop quantum-inspired solver systems to solve real problems for military missions.

Quantum-inspired solvers are hybrid: they are classical mixed signal systems that consist of analogue hardware and digital logic.