Q: What are the most important scientific challenges that these first-gen systems will help scientists solve that classical computers can’t today?

At AQT, a lot of the work that we do is focused on using first-generation quantum systems to understand the physics of quantum processors, and how we can build systems that are robust against noise. Solving this problem will allow us to develop large-scale, error-corrected quantum computers that will look at simulations of particle interactions, high-energy physics, condensed matter, new materials, and quantum chemistry.

Q: How is the current research at Berkeley Lab most likely to make an impact on the near and far futures of quantum computing?

There are challenges across the stack to getting to the next generation of quantum computers, from scaling up a quantum processor and cryogenic infrastructure to designing low-noise materials and error-corrected QPUs. 

And the reason why Berkeley Lab is so central to these efforts is that we have extensive research in all these different areas. 

In programs like the AQT, we’re working on building processors with performance increases of roughly 1,000 times compared to the processors we have in hand now.

At AQT, we’re also looking into how to optimize the operation of those devices in a full stack and applying them to real-world scientific problems. We’re taking what we learn at the testbed to work with industry on the future development of quantum computers.

In addition to large quantum programs, researchers can leverage world-leading experts and specialized instruments at the Molecular Foundry and the Advanced Light Source to study the materials used in quantum processors.

We also have the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), whose supercomputers are critical to simulating quantum processors with optimal performance, and researchers in the ATAP Division with deep expertise in control electronics and instrumentation. 

And finally, one of the things that we’re able to do in a national laboratory setting is look for the best solutions across a range of technologies that are going to get us to that next level, and then actually build and operate those systems at the scale of large prototypes so that we can directly observe how they work and figure out what we need to do to make them better. 

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The Advanced Light Source, Molecular Foundry, and NERSC are DOE Office of Science user facilities at Berkeley Lab. 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. 

DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.