Microsoft wants to build a quantum supercomputer within 10 years

Quantum computing promises to revolutionize certain computations using the laws of quantum physics. These machines are still a long way off from reality, but research is steadily progressing. Microsoft is a frontrunner in the quantum supercomputer race, and they’ve just published their roadmap. The company hopes to be able to build its own quantum supercomputer within ten years.

The first step is to create qubits, or quantum bits, which are the basic unit of quantum computing. Last year, Microsoft announced that it had passed an important first step, creating a qubit based on a Majorana, a fermion that has the distinction of being its own antiparticle. The researchers just published their latest findings in the journal physical review b.

Quantitative error correction will be required

The roadmap contains a total of six steps. Existing qubits are not yet reliable enough. So the next step is to include hardware-level error correction, which is called a topological qubit, and then braid it to reduce the number of errors. Google, one of its main competitors in this area, has successfully braided anyone but Abellany.

Microsoft hopes to reach the sixth and final stage of its roadmap, building a quantum supercomputer, within ten years. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadel said that such a machine could achieve 250 years of progress in chemistry and materials science in just 25 years.