IBM unveils new ‘Nighthawk’ quantum chip, aims for quantum advantage next year

Nighthawk is expected to be available to IBM users by the end of this year. IBM also announced an experimental processor to test key components for quantum error correction, alongside a faster quantum software stack, a quantum advantage tracker, a facility for fabricating 300mm quantum wafers, and more.

Together, the company said, these milestones show it is on track to delivering fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029.

Faults or errors are one of the biggest roadblocks in scaling quantum computers and rolling out commercial-grade systems. Errors occur when a quantum system interacts with its external environment and loses its delicate quantum characteristics. As a result, fault tolerance or error correction is essential for quantum computers to function well and become useful.

“There are many pillars to bringing truly useful quantum computing to the world. We believe that IBM is the only company that is positioned to rapidly invent and scale quantum software, hardware, fabrication, and error correction to unlock transformative applications. We are thrilled to announce many of these milestones today,” Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow, said in a statement.

Nighthawk’s architecture

IBM’s latest quantum processor is a square lattice comprising 120 qubits, with each qubit linked to its four nearest neighbours through a total of 218 next-generation tunable couplers.

Nighthawk has been designed with 20 percent more couplers compared to IBM Quantum Heron. “This increased qubit connectivity will allow users to accurately execute circuits with 30 percent more complexity than on IBM’s previous processor while maintaining low error rates,” the company said.

“This architecture will enable users to explore more computationally demanding problems that require up to 5,000 two-qubit gates, the fundamental entangling operations critical for quantum computation,” it added.

IBM further said that it anticipates future iterations of Nighthawk to deliver up to 7,500 gates by the end of 2026 and then up to 10,000 gates in 2027. “By 2028, Nighthawk-based systems could support up to 15,000 two-qubit gates enabled by 1,000 or more connected qubits extended through long-range couplers…” the company said.

Other announcements

– Quantum advantage tracker: Quantum advantage is said to be the point at which a quantum computer can solve a problem better than all classical computing systems. Since IBM expects quantum advantage to be confirmed by researchers before the end of 2026, it has developed a tracker in partnership with Algorithmiq, BlueQubi, and researchers at the Flatiron Institute that will help systematically monitor and verify emerging demonstrations of quantum advantage.

– Qiskit: In order to give developers more control when using quantum computing systems, IBM has developed a quantum software stack called Qiskit that enables fine grain control by unlocking HPC-accelerated error mitigation capabilities. It has also introduced a C++ interface as part of the quantum software stack that is designed to help developers program quantum natively in existing HPC environments.

“By 2027, IBM plans to extend Qiskit with computational libraries in areas such as machine learning and optimization to better solve fundamental physical and chemistry challenges such as differential equations and Hamiltonian simulations,” the company said.

– IBM Quantum Loon: Quantum Loon is an experimental processor designed to validate a new architecture to implement and scale the components needed for practical, high-efficiency quantum error correction. Using Quantum Loon, IBM has been able to show that it has all the key processor components needed for fault-tolerant quantum computing.

– 300mm wafer fabrication facility:  IBM on Wednesday also announced that the primary fabrication of its quantum processor wafers will be carried out at an advanced facility located in New York, United States. The facility is equipped with state-of-the-art semiconductor tooling and always-on capabilities, which has helped accelerate “the speed at which IBM can learn from, improve, and expand the capabilities of its quantum processors,” the company said.