Announcing the opening of the AWS Center for Quantum Computing
The home of AWS Quantum Technologies
In this post I am excited to announce the opening of the new home of the AWS Center for Quantum Computing, a state-of-the-art facility in Pasadena, California, where we are embarking on a journey to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer. This new building is dedicated to our quantum computing efforts, and includes office space to house our quantum research teams, and laboratories comprising the scientific equipment and specialized tools for designing and running quantum devices. Here our team of hardware engineers, quantum theorists, and software developers work side by side to tackle the many challenges of building better quantum computers. Our new facility includes everything we need to push the boundaries of quantum R&D, from making, testing, and operating quantum processors, to innovating the processes for controlling quantum computers and scaling the technologies needed to support bigger quantum devices, like cryogenic cooling systems and wiring.
From research to reality
A bold goal like building a fault-tolerant quantum computer naturally means that there will be significant scientific and engineering challenges along the way, and supporting fundamental research and making a commitment to the scientific community working on these problems is essential for accelerating progress. Our Center is located on the Caltech campus, which enables us to interact with students and faculty from leading research groups in physics and engineering just a few buildings away. We chose to partner with Caltech in part due to the university’s rich history of contributions to computing – both classical and quantum – from pioneers like Richard Feynman, whose vision 40 years ago can be credited with kick-starting the field of quantum computing, to the current technical leads of the AWS Center for Quantum Computing: Oskar Painter (John G Braun Professor of Applied Physics, Head of Quantum Hardware), and Fernando Brandao (Bren Professor of Theoretical Physics, Head of Quantum Algorithms). Through this partnership we’re also supporting the next generation of quantum scientists, by providing scholarships and training opportunities for students and young faculty members.
But our connections to the research community don’t end here. Our relationships with a diverse group of researchers help us stay at the cutting edge of quantum information sciences research. For example, several experts in quantum related fields are contributing to our efforts as Amazon Scholars and Amazon Visiting Academics, including Liang Jiang (University of Chicago), Alexey Gorshkov (University of Maryland), John Preskill (Caltech), Gil Refael (Caltech), Amir Safavi-Naeimi (Stanford), Dave Schuster (University of Chicago), and James Whitfield (Dartmouth). These experts help us innovate and overcome technical challenges even as they continue to teach and conduct research at their universities. I believe such collaborations at this early stage of the field will be critical to fully understand the potential applications and societal impact of quantum technologies.
Building a better qubit
There are many ways to physically realize a quantum computer: quantum information can, for example, be encoded in particles found in nature, such as photons or atoms, but at the AWS Center for Quantum Computing we are focusing on superconducting qubits – electrical circuit elements constructed from superconducting materials. We chose this approach partly because the ability to manufacture these qubits using well-understood microelectronic fabrication techniques makes it possible to make many qubits in a repeatable way, and gives us more control as we start scaling up the number of qubits.
There is more to building a useful quantum computer than increasing the number of qubits, however. Another important metric is the computer’s clock speed, or the time required to perform quantum gate operations. Faster clock speeds means solving problems faster, and here again superconducting qubits have an edge over other modalities, as they provide very fast quantum gates.
