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Amazon’s new “Ocelot” processor is a first-generation quantum chip developed by the AWS Center for Quantum Computing in Pasadena, California. (AWS Photo)
Amazon unveiled a prototype quantum processor with a novel architecture that promises to significantly reduce the resources required to unlock a future era in which ultra-powerful computers solve some of the world’s biggest problems.
The new chip, dubbed Ocelot, focuses on correcting errors from the start, using electrical oscillations to store data in a manner less susceptible to the disturbances and errors notorious for impeding full-fledged quantum computing.
Amazon says the approach could ultimately result in a functional quantum computer using as little as one-tenth the resources required for conventional quantum error-correction.
The news, announced Thursday morning, follows quantum chip unveilings by Microsoft last week and Google in December — each using a different architecture for qubits, the fundamental units of information in quantum computers.
Unlike classical binary computers that switch between 1s and 0s, qubits can exist in multiple states simultaneously, thanks to quantum mechanics. This is the technological trick that promises to unlock powerful new capabilities in areas such as chemistry, biochemistry, and materials science.
Standing in the way are environmental disturbances like vibrations, heat, and electromagnetic interference that easily disrupt the delicate quantum state of qubits, leading to mistakes in computation. This is why much of the work in the field is now focused on making qubits more stable and less prone to errors.
Google is using standard qubits and scaling them up to massive levels to reduce errors with its Willow quantum chip.
Microsoft says it has created a new form of qubit, called a topological qubit, that is more stable and less vulnerable to errors.
Amazon’s approach uses built-in error protection from the oscillating effect, plus an additional layer of error correction on top of that.
“We’re entering a new era of quantum computing — an era of error-corrected hardware,” said Oskar Painter, head of quantum hardware for Amazon Web Services, in an interview with GeekWire this week.
Painter said he believes a practical quantum computer could still be a decade or more away, no matter the approach, but he expressed optimism that Amazon’s new chip could help accelerate the timeline.
An AWS engineer installs magnetic shielding around a quantum processor prior to testing at the AWS Center for Quantum Computing in Pasadena, Calif. (Amazon Web Services Photo)
The company’s approach is also detailed in a new paper in the journal Nature.
Amazon says Ocelot is the first quantum chip to implement “bosonic quantum error correction,” using special particles that protect quantum information from errors. Bosons can exist in a wider range of states, making error correction more efficient.
The company says this can reduce the cost of quantum error correction by up to 90%, a key step toward eventually reaching the scale needed to achieve the long-term potential of quantum computing.
The qubit used Amazon is dubbed the “cat qubit,” after the famous Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment, in which a cat is simultaneously both alive and dead.
Ocelot remains a laboratory prototype, not yet available to customers. The company says more research and investment are needed to keep expanding the approach.
AWS currently offers a service called Amazon Braket, including specialized hardware, simulators, and software for quantum research and development.
Amazon’s quantum computing initiatives date back to its 2019 hiring of Painter and Fernando Brandão, Caltech physicists who were brought on to lead the company’s efforts to build its own quantum hardware.
