Insider Brief
- IonQ has demonstrated entanglement rates exceeding 1,000 events per second between a trapped-ion qubit and a silicon-vacancy solid-state quantum memory using a photonic interconnect.
- The company says the result is more than four times faster than the previous trapped-ion interconnect record and could support distributed quantum computing.
- The work supports IonQ ’s participation in DARPA’s HARQ program and builds on commercial quantum networking system sales to the University of Maryland and South Korea’s SDT.
PRESS RELEASE — IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), the world’s leading full-stack quantum platform and foundry, today announced the achievement of entanglement rates above 1,000 per second (1 kHz) between a trapped ion qubit and a solid-state memory, through a photonic interconnect. Entanglement is the quantum connection that lets separate systems work together, and it is the essential ingredient for networking quantum computers. While the trapped ion qubit sets the standard for qubit coherence, the solid-state quantum memory has unmatched efficiency coupling to light. Their juxtaposition is the best of both worlds, demonstrating the fastest quantum interconnect rate between qubits of any platform.
“ IonQ has crossed a pivotal milestone for memory enhanced quantum interconnects, achieving more than 1,000 entanglement events per second,” said Niccolo de Masi, Chairman and CEO of IonQ. “Classical data centers achieved massive scale by connecting specialized processors, memory, and networks. Quantum systems will scale in much the same way. This breakthrough addresses a critical interconnect bottleneck and advances IonQ’s roadmap to build the networked quantum data centers of the future.”
A technical paper presents results from real-world hardware testing of an end-to-end link between a trapped ion system and a silicon vacancy (SiV) qubit, building on IonQ ’s SiV quantum memory platform . IonQ’s demonstration achieves rates more than four times faster than the previous record 1 for trapped ions, held by IonQ co-founder Chris Monroe’s research group at Duke University, also a collaborator on the paper.
“ IonQ ’s efforts in quantum interconnects go back over a decade, to the founding of the company. Moving qubits through photons will be necessary in any large-scale quantum computer, and this demonstration sets the foundation for some amazing work to come,” said Monroe, Chief Scientist at IonQ and Gilhuly Family Presidential Distinguished Professor at Duke University.
“This work shows that a photonic quantum interconnect need not be a bottleneck for distributed quantum computing,” said Mihir Bhaskar, IonQ SVP and GM of Quantum Technologies at SkyWater. “Our technology can interface with almost any qubit type, so we see this unlocking a wide range of opportunities across multiple hardware modalities, from modular computing to networked sensing and beyond.”
This quantum memory and interconnect approach is also driving IonQ ’s work with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s ( DARPA) HARQ program , which seeks to develop high-speed quantum interconnects compatible with multiple computing qubit types. While this latest demonstration used trapped ion systems, the underlying architecture is expected to be compatible with multiple qubit approaches. This may include neutral atoms and superconducting systems with transducers (devices that convert microwave signals into light).
IonQ ’s memory and interconnect platform is likewise ramping up commercially, with the first commercial sale to the University of Maryland announced in April, and a second system sale to SDT in South Korea, announced in September.
Additional technical details can be found in the arXiv preprint .