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arXiv:2305.12773 · PRX Quantum

How to Wire a 1000 -Qubit Trapped-Ion Quantum Computer

Maciej Malinowski, D. T. C. Allcock, Christopher J. Ballance

Published Oct 19, 2023• 54 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

One of the most formidable challenges of scaling up quantum computers is that of control-signal delivery.Today's small-scale quantum computers typically connect each qubit to one or more separate external signal sources.This approach is not scalable due to the input/output (I/O) limitations of the qubit chip, necessitating the integration of control electronics.However, it is no small feat to shrink control electronics into a small package that is compatible with qubit-chip fabrication and operational constraints without sacrificing performance.This so-called "wiring challenge" is likely to impact the development of more powerful quantum computers even in the near term.In this paper, we address the wiring challenge of trapped-ion quantum computers.We describe a control architecture called WISE (Wiring using Integrated Switching Electronics), which significantly reduces the I/O requirements of ion-trap quantum computing chips without compromising performance.Our method relies on judiciously integrating simple switching electronics into the ion-trap chip-in a way that is compatible with its fabrication and operation constraints-while the complex electronics remain external.To demonstrate its power, we describe how the WISE architecture can be used to operate a fully connected 1000-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer using approximately 200 signal sources at a speed of approximately 40-2600 quantum gate layers per second.

DOI
10.1103/prxquantum.4.040313

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One of the most formidable challenges of scaling up quantum computers is that of control-signal delivery.Today's small-scale quantum computers typically connect each qubit to one or more separate external signal sources.This approach is not scalable due to the input/output (I/O) limitations of the qubit chip, necessitating the integration of control electronics.However, it is no small feat to shrink control electronics into a small package that is compatible with qubit-chip fabrication and operational constraints without sacrificing performance.This so-called "wiring challenge" is likely to impact the development of more powerful quantum computers even in the near term.In this paper, we address the wiring challenge of trapped-ion quantum computers.We describe a control architecture called WISE (Wiring using Integrated Switching Electronics), which significantly reduces the I/O requirements of ion-trap quantum computing chips without compromising performance.Our method relies on judiciously integrating simple switching electronics into the ion-trap chip-in a way that is compatible with its fabrication and operation constraints-while the complex electronics remain external.To demonstrate its power, we describe how the WISE architecture can be used to operate a fully connected 1000-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer using approximately 200 signal sources at a speed of approximately 40-2600 quantum gate layers per second.
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The scaling up of trapped-ion quantum processors based on the quantum charge-coupled device (QCCD) architecture is difficult owing to the extensive electronics and high-density wiring required to control numerous trap electrodes. In conventional QCCD architectures, each trap electrode is controlled via a dedicated digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The conventional approach places an overwhelming demand on electronic resources and wiring complexity. This is because the number of trap electrodes typically exceeds the number of trapped-ion qubits. This study proposes a method that leverages a high-speed DAC to generate time-division multiplexed signals to control a large-scale QCCD trapped-ion quantum processor. The proposed method replaces conventional DACs with a single high-speed DAC that generates the complete voltage waveforms required to control the trap electrodes, thereby significantly reducing the wiring complexity and overall resource requirements. Based on realistic parameters and commercially available electronics, our analysis demonstrates that a QCCD trapped-ion quantum computer with10,000\mathbf{1 0, 0 0 0}10,000trap electrodes can be controlled using only 13 field-programmable gate arrays and 104 high-speed DACs. This is in stark contrast to the10,000\mathbf{1 0, 0 0 0}10,000dedicated DACs required by conventional control methods. Consequently, employing this approach, we developed a proof-of-concept electronic system and evaluated its analog output performance.
A fault-tolerant quantum computer is expected to require thousands of qubits. Trapped ion architectures provide a modular approach where the quantum register is divided into multiple subregisters connected by physically moving the corresponding ions. Transporting ions at scale comes with several challenges such as the need to connect thousands of control lines to an ion trap chip. Multiplexing the required control voltages from few input signals to multiple electrodes offers a solution to this wiring challenge. Here we demonstrate a quantum processing unit that combines a surface ion trap with a time multiplexer via a sample-and-hold technique that initially charges electrodes to fixed voltages and disconnects them during qubit operations. We characterize the unit's performance by measuring motional heating rates below one phonon per second in both open and closed switch configurations. We further characterize the sample and hold process and find that sampling intervals below 50 ms are sufficient to keep expected gate errors from decaying charges during the hold phase below 10−410^{-4}10−4. Our results indicate that the multiplexing scheme is compatible with high-fidelity operations.
The central challenge of quantum computing is implementing high-fidelity quantum gates at scale. However, many existing approaches to qubit control suffer from a scale-performance trade-off, impeding progress towards the creation of useful devices. Here, we present a vision for an electronically controlled trapped-ion quantum computer that alleviates this bottleneck. Our architecture utilizes shared current-carrying traces and local tuning electrodes in a microfabricated chip to perform quantum gates with low noise and crosstalk regardless of device size. To verify our approach, we experimentally demonstrate low-noise site-selective single- and two-qubit gates in a seven-zone ion trap. We implement electronic single-qubit gates with fidelities ≥ 99.99912 ( 8 ) % and demonstrate consistent performance with low crosstalk across the device. We also electronically generate two-qubit maximally entangled states with 99.97 ( 1 ) % fidelity and long-term stable performance over continuous system operation. These state-of-the-art results highlight the potential of our all-electronic approach for coherent control of trapped-ion qubits in large-scale quantum computers.
Most trapped-ion quantum computers confine ions using precise voltages applied to electrodes and manipulate their internal states and execute quantum logic operations using focused laser beams. The prevailing approach to scaling these systems from current sizes that use tens of ions to ones with several orders of magnitude more ions relies on the lithographic fabrication of larger electrode arrays as well as on-chip integrated waveguides for delivering light to each individual ion. This approach solves the crosstalk problem that is inherent to free-space light delivery, but it does not address the input/output problem associated with coupling many optical signals to the on-chip waveguides. Here we describe an approach that uses CMOS-compatible optical modulators that can substantially address this challenge, and analyze its architectural implications.