Types of Quantum Computing Technology

With the increased use of quantum computing comes the rise in related technologies.

Silicon

Silicon-based technology relies on quantum dots carved out of silicon. This can achieve high-density qubits which can scale up to large numbers and tackle practical quantum computing problems. This uses traditional silicon wafer fabing techniques for development. The goal is to spin qubits on silicon at the atomic scale.

Ionic

Ionic-based technology uses charged atomic particles, which can be confined and suspended in free space using electromagnetic fields. Qubits are stored in the stable electronic states of each ion. Lasers are used to induce coupling between qubits. With ion-based technology there is the potential for scalable trapped ion quantum computers.

Carbon

Carbon-based technology is a suspended carbon nanotube coupled to a quantum dot, making a mechanical oscillator that serves as a qubit. This technology is based on grown carbon nano tubes that combine spins to ensure long coherence times and high frequency microwave components to enable fast operations. Carbon technology might be a way to reduce error rates and therefore would be useful in “noisy” quantum environments.

Photonic

Photonic-based technology consists of superpositions of multiple photons in a light pulse. Qubits consist of so-called “squeeze states” consisting of superpositions of multiple photons in a light pulse. The squeezed light and optical gates use silicon design techniques. Photonic technology can help scale quantum computers to millions of qubits. Qubits can be made with photons or single particles of quantum computing platforms.

Superconducting

Superconducting-based technology is photons and/or exotic states of matter trapped in magnetic fields. When temperatures drop, the laws of physics change, and the particles allow for faster computation. Superconduction occurs in cryogenic applications; this places extreme demand on interconnect materials, which means custom materials are needed, as standard coax will not survive.

Hybrid

Hybrid technology is a combination of classical computing and quantum computing. It combines elements of quantum computing, especially the use of quantum bits or qubits for processing, and classical computers as we already know them.