Intel horse ridge will offer 128 qubits of quantum power

In December we talked about Intel Horse Ridge, a processor for quantum computing systems. New documentation and more details on Horse Ridge have been revealed in the last few hours.

Intel Horse Ridge will offer 128 qubits of quantum power

These quantum chips were jointly developed by Intel Labs and QuTech, which now give us more details on their specifications.

Horse Ridge is designed to control up to 128 qubits. Some recent systems operate at about 50 qubits, but the end goal is many thousands, and possibly millions.

"We continue to make steady progress to make commercially viable quantum computing a reality in our future, " said Jim Clarke, director of quantum hardware at Intel Labs, in a statement.

The chip itself is an integrated cryogenic System-on-Chip (SoC) that measures just 4 x 4mm2 and is implemented in Intel 22nm FFL (FinFET Low Power) CMOS technology. Functionally, it brings together the digital core, analog / RF circuits, and SRAM memory to use microwave pulses to manage and manipulate the state of qubits in a quantum system. The Horse Ridge chip is designed to reduce phase shift errors at radio frequencies.

To lessen the phase shift, the researchers have integrated four radio frequency channels into a single Horse Ridge chip, each of which controls up to 32 qubits, using frequency multiplexing. That is a process of dividing the bandwidth into frequency bands that do not overlap each other and each carries a separate signal. That means Horse Ridge can potentially control up to 128 qubits to help reduce bulky cables and instruments used in the past.

Intel and QuTech explained that all four frequencies can be fine- tuned to allow the quantum system to automatically correct for phase change, thereby improving fidelity. Horse Ridge is designed to work with a wide range of frequencies to control transmissions (superconducting qubits). The transmissions usually work between 6 GHz and 7 GHz, while the 'spin qubits' work between 13 Ghz and 20 GHz.

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In a technical specification sheet, Intel said its Horse Ridge chip can operate at 3 Kelvin, or minus 456.07 degrees Fahrenheit. That's close to absolute zero, the temperature at which atoms stop moving.

This represents an important step for the future implementation of quantum computing for commercial use. We will keep you informed.