Big ticket investments have created a growing number of quantum unicorns. Chinese strides with photonic and superconducting qubits have grabbed attention. Trapped ions have shone with demonstrations of logical qubits. But who is winning the race to build a practical quantum computer?
China’s quantum supremacy demonstration may grab headlines, but not yet leadership in the quantum computing race. Leading hardware groups have firmed-up their development roadmaps for the marathon ahead and error correction has become a key part of the story. The challenge of scaling-up remains pre-eminent. A growing number of quantum majors, startups and institutes are…
Silicon enjoys an unrivaled lead in human fabrication know-how and investment. Importantly, in its isotopically purified form, it is an ideal neutral material to host sensitive spin qubits. Proponents emphasise the potential of this technology to deliver chip-scale solutions where some other approaches would require ‘building-size’ machines. But spin quibts are delicate. Nanofabricating the right…