• Microsoft claims it has developed a new processor that will significantly accelerate the availability of universal quantum computing
• Its Majorana 1 is touted as the first quantum chip with a ‘topological core’ architecture that creates a new state of matter
• Robust, reliable, fault-tolerant quantum devices that can quickly be programmed and are able to run for lengthy periods could be available within years, not decades
• The news is positive in many respects but should also set telco alarm bells ringing

Microsoft has unveiled Majorana 1, a new processor that the big tech firm describes as the “world’s first quantum chip powered by a new Topological Core architecture”. The new chip (which certainly can’t be described as a microprocessor, given that it’s about as big as a ship’s biscuit), is touted as being a breakthrough that will “realise quantum computers capable of solving meaningful, industrial-scale problems in years, not decades.” 

It’s an advance that should catch the eye of anyone with an interest in technology but it should also give rise to some concern amongst the network operator community – we’ll come back to that later.

Across the world, research laboratories, academic institutions, technology companies and nation states, together with their military forces, are competing to be the first to build a ‘universal’ quantum computer – a robust, reliable, fault-tolerant device that can quickly be manufactured, programmed and able to run for lengthy periods to solve problems that even the biggest and most advanced classical computers simply cannot.

For many years, the main focus of research has been how to make the quantum bits (qubits). These are the basic (and very delicate) building blocks of quantum computers that, when connected together, permit calculations to be made at enormous speed because a qubit can be in ‘superposition’ – a state of being ‘on’ and ‘off’ at the same time. Much work has been done on superconducting wire loops, but after more than 10 years of research and experimentation, Microsoft has opted to take a different, and more difficult, approach. It is encoding qubits on the world’s first ‘topoconductor’ that is able to create a new state of matter, a quasiparticle, that is neither solid, liquid nor gaseous (a bit like the remains of a bowl of jelly left over at the end of a kid’s birthday party). 

The standard theory of particle physics has it that every particle in the universe is either a boson or a fermion. Bosons carry energy and the fundamental forces of electromagnetism (the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force), while fermions (such as quarks, electrons, neutrinos, protons, and neutrons) are the actual foundation of matter itself. Back in 1937, the Sicilian-born theoretical physicist, Ettore Majorana, postulated the existence of a fermion that is actually its own antiparticle. It’s all very… quantum!

As a topoconducter, Microsoft’s Majorana 1 chip can both observe and control Majorana particles to produce more reliable and scalable qubits, and it is hoped that, in due course, it will be possible to scale to 1 million qubits on a single chip to produce quantum computers able to solve the most complex problems and deliver transformative real-world solutions. To date, Microsoft has managed to place eight topological qubits on the new chip but it is already scaled to support 1 million qubits.

The Majorana 1 is composed of an entirely new materials stack comprising indium arsenide (mainly used today in intra-red detection systems) and aluminium. Microsoft designed and fabricated much of the new stack atom by atom. The stability of the new hardware provides the fault-tolerance associated with a topological quantum computer thanks to the non-local encoding of the states of the quasiparticles, which renders them practically immune to random “local perturbations”.

Majorana particles do not exist in a natural state and, on that basis, some physicists have argued that they don’t exist at all. What Microsoft has been able to do, however, is prove that they can be ‘coaxed’ into existence by the application of magnetic fields and superconductors and the company’s claim has been validated by an article in the academic publication Nature that confers peer-reviewed confirmation that not only has Microsoft been able to create Majorana particles, but it can also reliably measure the information from them using microwaves.

The measurements can be turned on and off with voltage pulses, which obviates the need to fine tune every individual qubit, which is a very difficult task. The new approach enables digital control that simplifies the quantum computing process and the physical requirements to build a scalable machine.

While Majorana particles cloak quantum information to make it less susceptible to interference, that feature also makes them harder to measure. Fortunately, Microsoft’s new microwave measurement system is “so precise it can detect the difference between one billion and one billion and one electrons in a superconducting wire – which tells the computer what state the qubit is in and forms the basis for quantum computation,” explains Microsoft.

“Commercially important applications will also require trillions of operations on a million qubits, which would be prohibitive with current approaches that rely on fine-tuned analogue control of each qubit… the team’s new measurement approach enables qubits to be controlled digitally, redefining and vastly simplifying how quantum computing works,” the company adds.

Majorana 1’s topological qubit architecture uses aluminium nanowires constructed in H shapes where each H has four controllable Majoranas which constitute one qubit. The H blocks can be connected together like interlocking tiles that are then placed on the chip which, of course, has its own ecosystem of control logic, a dilution refrigerator that maintains qubit temperatures at close to absolute zero and a software stack that can integrate with both AI and classical computers. 

Microsoft is, understandably, very pleased with its remarkable breakthrough technology but tempers its exuberance by cautioning that whilst many difficult scientific challenges have been overcome, it will still require years more engineering work to make universal quantum computing a reality. Nonetheless, this is a major advance.

Why telcos need to take notice

So this looks like an incredible advance by Microsoft, but what does this have to do with telcos? Quite simply, the sooner that quantum computing is readily available, the sooner that traditional public key encryption will be rendered useless and cybercriminals will find it even easier to steal data and play havoc with network and tech system operations. 

Consider also that Microsoft is just one company pouring R&D resources into quantum computing advances and that commercial product timelines will get shorter and shorter  – the concern in the US is, of course, that China will be the first to enable universal quantum computing.  

For telcos, this kind of breakthrough should have them reassessing their quantum-safe networking strategies and ensuring that their current IT systems are as secure as possible so that secure data cannot be ‘harvested’ by cybercriminals to be hacked by quantum computing systems at a later date – see Why telcos need quantum-safe networks.

As ever, though, the list of critical focus areas for telcos is long – should quantum-safe networking be prioritised over AI-enabled automation of 6G readiness? Answers on a digital postcard please. 

– Martyn Warwick, Editor in Chief, TelecomTV