Microsoft unveiled Majorana 1, a quantum processing unit, or QPU, powered by a new Topological Core architecture. The new processor was designed and made to enable quantum computers to solve “meaningful, industrial-scale” problems in a matter of years, not decades.
Majorana 1’s topoconductors – not to be confused with the traditional and more conventional semiconductors – are new and can also be made to scale up to a million qubits, all fitted in a single chip. “We took a step back and said ‘OK, let’s invent the transistor for the quantum age. What properties does it need to have?’” said Chetan Nayak, Microsoft technical fellow. “And that’s really how we got here – it’s the particular combination, the quality and the important details in our new materials stack that have enabled a new kind of qubit and ultimately our entire architecture.”
Topoconductor is different from the typical semiconductor. A superconductor, the material itself is described by Microsoft as being an entirely new state of matter; it’s neither a solid, liquid, or gas, but topological. The processor’s namesake itself is derived from the Majorana quantum particles Microsoft has created, which in turn is a scientific description of something called a Fermion, that is also known as an anti-particle.
If you’re interested, you can read more about the Majorana 1 on Microsoft’s official product page.
(Source: Microsoft)
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