IBM Corp. today announced the launch of its newest quantum processor “Heron,” featuring 133 qubits of computing power that will serve as the foundation for a new series of processors capable of providing practical utility for science and research.
Alongside the new processor, the IBM unveiled the Quantum System Two, the company’s first modular quantum computer powered by Heron, during Quantum Summit 2023, the company’s annual quantum computing conference.
The technology giant also announced Condor, a 1,121-qubit processor that is part of IBM’s focus on long-term research into developing large-scale quantum computing efforts. In a press briefing, Mattias Stephan, chief quantum architect and IBM fellow, said the device packed 50% more qubit density, with over a mile of flex cabling. The efforts in building the device, he said “unlocked the road to scaling.”
Although the processor has a massive number of qubits, Stephan said it has comparable performance to the 433-qubit Osprey device debut in 2022. This is because simply stacking qubits doesn’t make a processor faster or more powerful, architectural changes are needed. According to Stephan, what IBM learned from Condor, and its previous Eagle quantum processor, paved the way for the tunable architecture breakthrough of the Heron processor.
“Heron is our best-performing quantum processor to date with up to a five-fold improvement in error reduction compared to our flagship Eagle device,” said Stephan. “This was a journey that was four years in the making. It was designed for modularity and scale.”
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