Through extensive consultation across academia and industry experts the NQCC has developed a technology roadmap identifying detailed initial steps towards the goal of a 100+ qubit NISQ-era machine by 2025. That has enabled us to establish work streams addressing hardware, software, algorithms and applications, with a key focus on underpinning technologies, scaling, error and noise mitigation, as well as benchmarking and verification, solution packaging and user accessibility.
Our initial focus is on superconducting circuits and trapped ion qubit platforms as these are currently the most mature. However, the roadmap will be reviewed over time to enable promising new platforms and technologies to be brought into the technology programme as they evolve.
One of the key objectives for the NQCC in its first five years is to develop and deliver a long-term roadmap to achieve general-purpose quantum computing in the UK.
Technology programme
Three critical milestones have been identified as the NQCC establishes its technical delivery:
- Demonstrating early quantum advantage
- Securing state-of-the-art access to quantum-computing resources and providing testbeds and demonstrator hardware for the UK user community
- Defining and delivering the technology building blocks needed for a future universal fault-tolerant qubit architecture
Technology objectives
A number of key objectives have been identified for our technical programme across hardware, software and applications development.
Higher fidelity: Low noise and increased coherence times to provide more stable qubits
Extensibility: Increased numbers of qubits or interlinks to improve circuit and device scaling
Autonomous devices: Development of devices that operate outside a lab environment
Cloud resources: Access to UK-based quantum processors via the cloud
Compilers & tools: Progressive abstraction from platform specifics to low-level programming languages
Benchmarking: Tools and protocols to benchmark emerging hardware and software
Supply chain – Vacuum: Commercial compact vacuum enclosures for quantum computing from UK-based suppliers
Supply chain – Cryo-electronics: Devices capable of operating at low temperatures
Quantum advantage: Applications with measurable quantum advantage over the best conventional approaches
Technology roadmap
