Independent Jülich Study Compares Quantinuum Trapped-Ion Hardware to Superconductors
Jülich Supercomputing Centre said Quantinuum's Helios showed lower effective error than superconducting hardware in fault-tolerance circuit tests.
The story in focus
An independent study by the Jülich Supercomputing Centre found Quantinuum's Helios trapped-ion system showed roughly 13 times lower effective hardware error at 30 data qubits and eight times lower at 50 data qubits than a comparable superconducting result in tests of operations used in quantum error correction.
- Helios' effective hardware error was about 13 times lower at 30 data qubits and eight times lower at 50 data qubits than the superconducting result, per the study as described.
- Tests spanned three error-correcting code families on Helios, while device constraints limited the superconducting systems to the surface code.
- Mid-circuit measurement caused greater degradation on the superconducting processors than on Quantinuum's systems in the comparison.
What the study measured
The Jülich Supercomputing Centre tested small portions of circuits intended for larger quantum error-correction workflows, according to Quantinuum's account of the work. Helios posted about 13 times lower effective hardware error at 30 data qubits and eight times lower at 50 data qubits than the comparable superconducting result.
The comparison also covered mid-circuit measurement, which fault-tolerant machines must repeat throughout a computation. Introducing it degraded performance more sharply on the superconducting processors evaluated than on the Quantinuum systems.
Code families and connectivity
Researchers ran tests on Helios across the surface code, the triangular color code and a bivariate-bicycle qLDPC code. Connectivity and control restrictions limited the superconducting devices evaluated to the surface code alone.
Quantinuum attributes this to its QCCD architecture, in which mobile qubits allow codes requiring higher connectivity. The company says broader code choice gives researchers more room to reduce the qubit and time overheads of fault tolerance. Quantinuum described the findings as building on earlier independent research by the same organization.
Next steps
Quantinuum says it intends to extend its lead through investments in fidelity, flexible connectivity and integrated control, without giving dates. Whether the error ratios hold for complete error-corrected computations, rather than circuit fragments, was not reported in the study account.
How large was the reported error advantage for Quantinuum's Helios?
About 13 times lower effective hardware error at 30 data qubits and eight times lower at 50 data qubits than the comparable superconducting result, per the Jülich study as described by Quantinuum.
Sources & further reading
- Independent Study Shows Quantinuum Outperforming Superconducting Systems on Key Operations for Fault Tolerance ↗quantinuum.com
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