- By Prateek Levi
- Thu, 20 Feb 2025 05:37 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Microsoft has revealed its new quantum chip, Majorana 1, marking a significant leap forward in the field of quantum computing. This new chip is said to produce more reliable and scalable qubits compared to previous versions. As the fundamental units of quantum computers, qubits are crucial to their function, and the introduction of Majorana 1 could be a key step in achieving useful quantum computers that can address large-scale, real-world problems in a matter of years, not decades.
Microsoft considers this development a major milestone. As the company stated in a blog post, “In the same way that the invention of semiconductors made today’s smartphones, computers, and electronics possible, topoconductors and the new type of chip they enable offer a path to developing quantum systems that can scale to a million qubits and are capable of tackling the most complex industrial and societal problems.”
Introducing Majorana: A New Quantum Chip
At the core of this achievement is a completely new approach. Microsoft’s engineers spent the last two decades exploring ways to develop more stable qubits known as topological qubits. Unlike traditional qubits, topological qubits are designed to be inherently more stable and require less error correction from the outset. However, the company admits that creating topological qubits wasn’t easy, since the exotic particles they needed, called Majoranas, had never been observed or made until recently.
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To make these Majoranas, Microsoft turned to creating topological conductors—or topoconductors. These are not like the semiconductors we’re used to, made of silicon, but rather a unique combination of indium arsenide (a semiconductor) and aluminum (a superconductor). When these materials are cooled to near absolute zero and exposed to magnetic fields, they exhibit properties that allow the creation of Majoranas.
Chetan Nayak, a technical fellow at Microsoft, explained, “We took a step back and said ‘OK, let’s invent the transistor for the quantum age. What properties does it need to have?’ 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.”
Scaling the Quantum Leap: From 8 Qubits to a Million
While Majorana 1 may seem modest with its eight qubits, this is just the starting point. Compared to quantum chips from other companies—such as Google's Willow chip with 106 qubits or IBM’s R2 Heron with 156 qubits—Microsoft’s Majorana 1 is still small. However, the company has high hopes for its scalability. The design behind the chip, built around the topological core architecture, is expected to scale all the way up to a million qubits. As Microsoft puts it, “This is a needed threshold for quantum computers to deliver transformative, real-world solutions – such as breaking down microplastics into harmless byproducts or inventing self-healing materials for construction, manufacturing or healthcare.”
How Quantum Computers Are Different
To understand why quantum computers are such a breakthrough, it’s helpful to compare them with classical computers. Classical computers use bits, which are either 0 or 1. On the other hand, qubits take advantage of quantum mechanics to exist in both 0 and 1 states at once. For instance, a qubit could have a 25% chance of being 0 and a 75% chance of being 1, representing much more information than a classical bit could. This quantum property allows quantum computers to process data in ways classical computers cannot, solving problems that are otherwise impossible to tackle.
While supercomputers are incredibly fast and rely on advanced processing techniques, they are still based on classical computing principles. They process information using logic gates like AND, OR, XOR, and NOT to manipulate classical bits. Quantum computers, on the other hand, use quantum gates such as H-gates and Pauli gates that work with qubits and can be used to build circuits and algorithms that are capable of solving complex problems, even ones that classical computers are not equipped to handle.
The Future Potential of Quantum Computing
Microsoft sees quantum computers as a tool to unlock significant scientific breakthroughs. Since quantum computers are grounded in quantum mechanics, they offer the ability to more precisely map natural processes. As Microsoft explained, “For instance, they could help solve the difficult chemistry question of why materials suffer corrosion or cracks. This could lead to self-healing materials that repair cracks in bridges or airplane parts, shattered phone screens or scratched car doors.”
The company is also looking at combining quantum computing with generative AI tools. Microsoft imagines a scenario where users can describe a new material or molecule in plain language and instantly receive an answer from the quantum computer.
The Challenge of Quantum Errors
One of the biggest challenges with quantum computing is error correction. As Daniel Lidar, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at USC, explains, “Error correction is essential for quantum computers to function well and become useful. Errors occur when a quantum system interacts with its external environment and loses its delicate quantum characteristics.” This is something that both Microsoft and other companies working in quantum computing are actively addressing.
Google’s Quantum Progress: A Rival to Microsoft
Meanwhile, Google’s recent announcement about its Willow quantum chip has drawn attention. Google claims that Willow can solve a computation so complex that it would take a supercomputer around 10 septillion (10^25) years to complete—yet Willow can do it in under five minutes. Google has made progress in reducing errors exponentially in quantum computers, scaling up qubits while maintaining accuracy. As Lidar puts it, "They demonstrated that quantum error correction works as theoreticians have predicted: as they made their error-corrected ‘logical qubit’ larger, the results improved. Previously, in most cases, errors only increased.”
Microsoft's New Approach to Quantum Measurement
Microsoft, however, isn’t far behind. The company claims it has devised a new method of measuring quantum information stored in Majorana particles with remarkable precision. According to Microsoft, “This new measurement approach is so precise, it can detect the difference between one billion and one billion and one electrons in a superconducting wire…” This breakthrough could pave the way for building a much more scalable quantum machine.