Oak Ridge Lab Adds Hybrid System to Test Quantum Error Correction

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has built a new research system to study quantum error correction by combining IBM quantum processors with standard computer hardware. The facility is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Quantum Science Center at the laboratory unveiled the setup as a co-design platform to merge quantum and traditional high-performance computing technology. Quantum computers are very sensitive to environmental noise like temperature changes, which can destroy fragile quantum states and cause errors. Oak Ridge says that while fault-tolerant quantum computers still seem to be at least ten years away, the field has made important progress in protecting quantum information from that noise.

Travis Humble, director of the center, said solving error correction challenges is necessary to make quantum computing a practical scientific tool. Jay Gambetta, an IBM fellow and director of IBM Research, stated that the main question is now how to speed up and optimize error correction to build usable systems, rather than whether error correction works. He added that the new platform lets researchers test different approaches to find which software and architectures can scale.

The system pairs an IBM Quantum System Two, which uses 120-qubit Nighthawk r2 quantum processors, with a classical supercomputer named Umbra. That supercomputer runs on AMD 5th Generation Epyc computer processors and Instinct MI355X graphics chips. According to AMD, the computer processors coordinate tasks, while the graphics chips speed up simulations and parallel calculations. The hardware also includes AMD Versal chips to handle low-latency control and decoding for the quantum circuits.

IBM notes the platform can test hierarchical error correction, a method that uses an inner code to protect qubits inside a module and an outer code for a second layer of protection. This approach could reach one trillion logical operations with a low physical error rate.

The system supports the Department of Energy's Quantum Genesis Mission, which includes the Q Competition. That contest aims to build a quantum system with 100 logical qubits that can perform hundreds of millions of fault-tolerant operations, following an executive order from President Trump.

Summary

Building reliable quantum computers requires solving high error rates caused by environmental interference. By combining quantum processors with powerful traditional computing hardware in one environment, researchers have a dedicated platform to test the software and error-correction methods needed to make large-scale quantum computing practical.