US' new superconducting qubit lasts 15x longer than industry-standard

Researchers at Princeton University have developed a new superconducting qubit that achieves a coherence time of over 1 millisecond, which is three times longer than the best previously reported in laboratory settings and nearly fifteen times longer than the industry standard. This advancement addresses a fundamental challenge in quantum computing: qubits losing information too quickly to perform useful calculations. The team validated their design by building a fully functioning quantum chip, demonstrating significant potential for improved error correction and scalability in industrial quantum systems. According to Andrew Houck, co-principal investigator and Princeton’s dean of engineering, integrating these qubits into existing processors like Google’s could enhance performance by up to 1,000 times, with benefits increasing exponentially as more qubits are added. The breakthrough was achieved through a two-pronged materials approach: using tantalum metal to preserve energy in the qubit circuits and replacing the traditional sapphire substrate with high-quality silicon, a standard in the computing industry. Overcoming technical challenges in growing tantalum directly on silicon unlocked the