Q-CTRL, an Australian quantum computing company has combined QEC code with Fire Opal to reduce the impact of algorithmic errors on quantum computers. The code has successfully identified 70% of errors on real quantum computers. Noise and errors are the major challenges facing quantum technology. The qubits are noise-sensitive; they lose their quantum state due to environmental interactions like noise. Quantum computer manufacturers are challenged to develop quantum computers that can withstand these errors. Q-CTRL has developed a method to help manufacturers get the best performance from their devices through reduction.
They have demonstrated the effectiveness of Fire Opal technology in minimizing errors at the hardware and circuit levels in quantum computers on IBM’s quantum computing hardware. Q-CTRL’s 5-Qubit QEC code allows the residual errors to be spotted and corrected with a 70% accuracy in error syndrome extraction on production hardware. It gives hope for building reliable large quantum computers that many applications need. Eventually, quantum computer manufacturers will need to integrate QEC to achieve large-scale manufacturing of their devices. Although QEC isn’t widely used due to the overhead required in encoding and identifying errors through syndrome measurements. Q-CTRL has proven its method’s effectiveness at reducing the gravity of errors and improving quantum algorithm’s performance by up to 9,000x on real hardware.
Quantity physics poses two challenges to error correction; it is impossible to clone or copy a quantum state; measuring a quantum state changes its intrinsic properties. Q-CTRL has found a way to encode information and achieve partial measurements. They create a redundancy in the codes by repeating each element in the bit string multiple times. Ultimately, quantum error correction is official and has been demonstrated many times in the quantum community. Combined with Fire Opal technology and its error suppression abilities, Q-CTRL has hit a milestone for future developments in quantum technology.