A research team that includes the National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a device that enables quantum computers to switch connections between quantum bits and readout resonator circuits for faster processing.
The study also involved Raytheon’s BBN subsidiary, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and the University of Colorado Boulder, NIST announced Monday.
Existing quantum computer designs are often afflicted with external or internal noises due to defective materials in the equipment. The noises can cause errors in quantum bit, or qubit, calculations.
The scientists created a toggle switch that can either isolate the qubits and resonators, connect the qubits to enable calculations, or link the qubits and the resonators to retrieve results.
“The goal is to keep the qubits happy so that they can calculate without distractions, while still being able to read them out when we want to,” said Ray Simmonds, NIST physicist and co-author of the study. “This device architecture helps protect the qubits and promises to improve our ability to make the high-fidelity measurements required to build quantum information processors out of qubits.”
The findings were published in Nature Physics, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.