Atom Computing partners with DARPA to help create a roadmap to utility-scale, fault-tolerant computing

Rob Hays, CEO of Atom Computing, a company that builds quantum computing platforms using atomic arrays of optically trapped neutral atoms. Atom Computing is laser focused on scaling its quantum technologies to large numbers of high-quality qubits. Rob spoke to us to discuss Atom Computing's aims, their partnership with DARPA and what they are looking forward to at Quantum.Tech Boston.

Neutral atoms have been called a “dark horse” in the race to build large-scale quantum computers and garnered several headlines in recent months. Why is this technology getting so much attention?

Neutral atoms are gaining attention because of their potential to quickly scale to larger numbers of qubits, which is necessary for solving useful problems that classical computers cannot. Superconducting and ion trap systems have been around longer and demonstrated fairly high-quality qubits but it’s challenging and very expensive to scale these systems to the size we need for fault-tolerant computing in the future. In the past few years, Atom Computing and other researchers have demonstrated that you can build very stable qubits out of optically trapped neutral atoms, which has opened up a new wave of quantum computing innovation.

We load individual atoms into a computational array of qubits with lasers that hold them in position and manipulate their quantum states wirelessly with pulses of light to perform computations. This tight arrangement of individually trapped atoms, spaced only microns apart, enables scalability. While we aren’t there today, we could feasibly fit an array containing millions of qubits into an area smaller than a cubic millimeter, inside a vacuum chamber about the size of a grapefruit, supported by optical and electronic systems - all of which fits in a room the size of a typical bedroom.

Are all neutral atom systems the same?

All neutral atom quantum systems are in the same family but they are not the same. There are major and subtle differences between them. From a user perspective, there is the design choice of whether to build a universal gate-based system or an analog system. We are building a gate-based system, which is a general purpose quantum computer that can be programmed to do essentially any quantum algorithm using a standard set of gates that are common across modalities - superconductors, ion traps, etc. Others have chosen to design analog systems that are more targeted at a specific subset of optimization algorithms. Both are good, but they are different.

Under the hood, Atom Computing’s approach to neutral atom quantum computing is distinct. We use atoms from alkaline earth metals as qubits and encode information onto the nuclear spin states of these qubits, which makes them more resilient to noise and enables them to maintain their quantum state longer. These attributes are important for reducing errors in the system and ensuring calculations are accurate. End users will measure the difference between systems in overall application performance.

Hear what expert speakers have to say about atom computing in quantum

DARPA recently selected Atom Computing as a partner to explore how to accelerate the path to utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computing. What is this partnership?

DARPA created the Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) to evaluate whether an underexplored approach to quantum computing can achieve utility-scale operation faster than conventional predictions. Atom Computing was one of three commercial partners selected based on the potential of our technology, quality of our team, and proposed solutions. The partnership with DARPA provides funding and experts to help us create a roadmap to utility-scale, fault-tolerant computing. Then we plan to build and test prototypes of enabling technologies to pave the way to eventual systems of this scale.

This work is important not only for Atom Computing but for the United States and its allies to establish and maintain a lead in quantum computing for national defense and economic development. As Joe Altepeter, US2QC program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office said in the program announcement, “The goal of US2QC is to reduce the danger of strategic surprise from underexplored quantum computing systems.”

What are you looking forward to at Quantum.Tech Boston?

Our team is going to Quantum Tech to meet end users and application partners who want to work with Atom Computing to develop algorithms that solve their problems. I want to hear about the use cases and value propositions they are pursuing for their businesses and how they believe quantum computing can help. This year, I’m pleased to see such a diverse set of speakers across verticals and geographies. I’m looking forward to hearing from all of them. I always enjoy catching up with familiar colleagues like Marco Pistoia at JP Morgan and Jay Lowell at Boeing. I’m particularly curious to hear from Satyam Priyadarshy at Halliburton and Muhammad Ai-Saiyari at Aramco on how quantum computing can transform the energy sector. In an industry worth trillions of dollars, there is tremendous economic value to be gained from efficiency improvements in energy exploration, molecular simulations, batteries, and other uses. I can’t wait to hear what they find most interesting.

Rob Hays will be speaking at Quantum.Tech and will be a part of a panel discussion talking on 'The Path to Commercialization: A roadmap update from the leading processor providers'

To see Rob this April in Boston, register here today