How much electricity does a quantum computer need?

Sophia Chen

David L. McCollum, Naushita Sharma, Melrose Pan +4 more

Considerable attention has recently focused on the vast energy and water demands of supercomputing, namely large-scale data centers that underpin artificial intelligence (AI), one of the great disruptors of contemporary society. Looking ahead some years from now, quantum computing is poised to disrupt established computing paradigms once again. Scientists and engineers are now working intensely to bring this century-old dream of physicists to fruition. Yet, as quantum computers begin to be integrated with classical supercomputing architectures, the implications for energy and physical resource use also need to be understood, especially how they compare to today’s AI data centers. These impacts have not yet been quantified by the research community – a notable gap in the literature, even if commercial-scale deployment of Quantum-Accelerated Computing Infrastructure (QuACI) is not expected for a few more years. This study is the first to conduct such an assessment. Using publicly available information from academic sources and private industry, we characterize multiple configurations of superconducting qubit-based, fault-tolerant quantum computers (FTQC) that could plausibly be deployed at scale in the 2030s and into the 2040s. By parameterizing these FTQC systems at a process level, we conduct a prospective scenario analysis to quantify their energy and physical resource needs. While these estimates are uncertain, given the current state of quantum technologies and their unknown future trajectories, important insights can already be drawn. One key finding is that while the electricity needs for a fleet of FTQCs are within the bounds of previous modeling studies that have explored high electricity demand futures, the needs for certain physical resources, namely water and helium-3, could pose bottlenecks to QuACI scale-up.

M. I. Dyakonov

Liu Junwen, Ziyan Zhao, Jiakai Hao

Electric power information system is related with the safe operation of power grid. To ensure the data of electric power information will not be eavesdropped or deciphered, we need a strict way of encryption. With the improvement of computing capacity, traditional encryption algorithms are at high risk of crack. Quantum communication technology is an absolute security encryption mode, which can significantly improve the safety of electric power information system. For the particularity of electric power production and management data by analysing the principle of quantum communication technology, we have put forward implementation plan of electric power information system data encryption scheme and quantum communication network.

M. I. Dyakonov

Hailong Han, Xiaoping Liu, Huazhan Liang +3 more

- Cryogenic data transfer has numerous applications at 4.2 K for extracting data from supercomputers and quantum computers to address interface bottlenecks. The external modulation of data transmission across temperature zones is achieved through the use of electro-optic modulators. The performance of a thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) Mach-Zehnder modulator was examined at cryogenic temperatures. Low-frequency measurements indicate that the Vπ (voltage needed for π phase shift) of the modulator increases as the temperature decreases from 298 K to 4.2 K. A comparison was conducted between the readout performance of the electrical wire link and the optical fiber link, spanning from 4.2 K to 298 K. Additionally, high-speed data transmission was successfully demonstrated in a 4.2 K environment without the need for cryogenic electric amplifiers, achieving signals of up to 30 Gbps. The proposed solution holds potential benefits for both classical and quantum computers in alleviating interface bottlenecks.