SEEQC's new cryogenic digital chip is a milestone in quantum regulation!
March 16, 2023 - U.S. quantum computer startup SEEQC has introduced a series of high-speed, energy-efficient single-flux quantum (SFQ) digital chips capable of running all the core controller functions of a quantum computer at the same low temperatures as quantum bits. These chips are also fully integrated with quantum bits - an important milestone in building scalable fault-tolerant quantum computers and data centers.
SEEQC integrates key management functions on the chip, providing a higher level of scale, speed and cost efficiency
Because quantum chips need to operate at extremely low temperatures to be realized, complex analog wiring is typically required to transfer fine quantum bit signals between the quantum bits and the room temperature control system, which results in signals that are highly susceptible to distortion due to wiring defects. Also, it is an extremely complex and difficult to scale system.
This problem is solved by SEEQC's active multi-chip modular architecture. sEEQC's digital chip technology utilizes energy-efficient superconducting SFQ logic that operates at speeds up to 40 GHz and enables classical quantum bit control, measurement, multiplexing and data processing. Also, due to their low energy requirements, SEEQC's superconducting SFQ circuits can operate at 20 milliKelvin in the form of integrated multi-chip modules, thus avoiding the path of sending data from milliKelvin temperature to room temperature and back, and reducing system latency.
"We decided to extend the quantum computing system from scratch, rather than based on an existing prototype design. Developing a completely new architecture based on a single-flux quantum chip will allow us to build the quantum computer control system needed for a fault-tolerant quantum computer. And only by integrating all functions into a high-performance chip will we be able to scale energy-efficient quantum systems to the requirements of data centers."
-- Dr. Oleg Mukhanov, CTO and co-founder of SEEQC
In addition, using SEEQC's chips will eliminate the need for almost all of the expensive room-temperature electronics racks interconnected with quantum chips, which will significantly reduce the cost and complexity of quantum computers by several orders of magnitude. By placing all functional components on an ultrafast digital SFQ classical chip integrated with the quantum chip in a multi-chip module, the data processing latency and transfer rate between chips will be greatly reduced, which will enable faster and higher quality quantum bit reads and resets than currently available technology, an important feature for the application and implementation of fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Existing quantum computers require up to three cables per quantum bit, carrying sensitive analog signals, which greatly limits the ability to multiplex at high rates in large-scale systems. This also means that future large quantum computers will require millions of cables to carry power throughout the system, and that these cables themselves are a constant source of heat that must be dissipated by dilution chillers.
In contrast, SEEQC has successfully tested its digital multiplexing technology, which requires only two cables to control an 8-quantum-bit module, and is currently manufacturing versions to control up to 64 quantum bits, which significantly reduces the cost and simplifies the underlying complexity of quantum computers.
The company also unveiled SEEQC System Red, a full-stack quantum computing system built to benchmark the performance and capabilities of its new SFQ chip, which is the company's first-generation reference-level quantum computer system. SEEQC Red's architecture is designed to emulate current-generation superconductor quantum computing systems with traditional room-temperature analog control and readout capabilities, allowing the company to make direct AB comparisons with its next-generation quantum computers based on digital SFQ chips. With SEEQC Red, the company achieved an average 2 quantum bit gate speed of 39ns and an average gate fidelity of 98.4%, one of the best publicly available quantum systems running in the cloud.
"Our system has a four times lower error rate than competing systems compared to general-purpose quantum computing systems available on the cloud," said Matthew Hutchings, co-founder and chief product officer of SEEQC.
"SEEQC Red delivers the fastest native double quantum bits on any system available on publicly available quantum cloud services other systems focus on a larger number of quantum b bits its elective pass gates. While SEEQC's system focuses on quality and speed. The speed is 10 times faster than the competition while providing a select-pass fidelity comparable to the state-of-the-art systems available on currently available quantum cloud platforms."
SEEQC Red leverages the company's proprietary quantum computing platform, which integrates a cloud portal, software and firmware packages. The platform allows users to access the reference system to run any common application or algorithm.
"SEEQC's mission is to deliver scalable, energy-efficient quantum computing for the data center, and our approach is through digital chip-level integration of key functions such as readout, control, multiplexing, error correction and classical data processing. The two significant technological advances we are announcing today represent important progress in this mission for the entire quantum computing industry," said John Levy, co-founder and CEO of SEEQC.
"By 2023, we expect to replace traditional room-temperature electronics with our digital SFQ chips in the next generation of SEEQC quantum computers, which will also be a significant step forward in our work toward achieving scalable, energy-efficient quantum systems that can support chip-based error correction."
SEEQC said the technology for cryogenic chips could make it possible to build more powerful quantum computers in the future, and that such silicon wafer-based chips are now capable of production manufacturing. The company is also developing two other chips that adapt to different low temperatures.
Interviewed by the First Financial Reporter, Wang Zhehui, head of the Quantum Modulation Technology Department of Guodun, said, "It should be distinguished that such cryogenic chips are not quantum chips in the strict sense, but rather quantum modulation chips, a special cryogenic measurement and control chip based on modulation technology, which is used to manipulate quantum computing chips."
Quantum regulation technology can be simply understood as the past system-level regulation equipment was made into an integrated chip, the cryogenic region of the quantum regulation chip has the advantages of performance, integration and anti-heat leakage, but the challenge is also very big, is currently a global technology companies are tackling the difficulties. There are two main implementation paths for cryogenic modulation chips, one is known as CMOS technology, and the other is SFQ technology, where CMOS is a mature metal oxide semiconductor process in the semiconductor industry, SFQ is an emerging technology known as "single flux quantum bits", SEEQC is using the SFQ technology path.
SFQ is a new technology homologated with quantum computing chip, which is developed earlier in foreign countries and can accomplish many functions similar to CMOS process, but it is not mature yet, and it is difficult to achieve the same level of complexity as CMOS chip."
"There are some teams in China who are also developing this technology. The ultimate goal of the cryogenic chip is to replace the room temperature system, which is due to the room temperature system volume and power consumption are very large, the cost is also very high, and there is a huge amount of non-superconducting signal lines from the room temperature connected to the low temperature, which will make the refrigeration machine in each temperature zone leakage of heat is serious, can not be properly cooled."
The industry believes that the integration of the cryogenic regulation chip with the current combination of commercially available room temperature chips is an important way to achieve widespread use of quantum computers in the future.
About SEEQC
SEEQC combines classical and quantum technologies to address the efficiency, stability and cost issues unique to quantum computing systems. The company applies classical and quantum technologies through digital readout and control techniques and a unique chip-level architecture. At the same time, SEEQC's quantum systems provide the first commercially scalable, problem-specific quantum computing applications to market with the energy and cost efficiency, speed, and digital control systems needed.
[1]https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/quantum-computer-startup-seeqc-unveils-digital-chip-that-operates-at-super-cold-temp/articleshow/98669951.cms
[3]https://m.yicai.com/news/101703732.html
