Microsoft’s Majorana 1 processor employs topological superconductivity to possibly scale quantum computing to one million qubits.
Summary
• Microsoft has introduced Majorana 1, a quantum device powered by topological superconductivity.
• The technique uses a custom-built material known as a topoconductor to generate and control Majorana particles.
• The topoconductor is a semiconductor that also functions as a superconductor, conducting electricity with minimal energy loss, often at extremely low temperatures.
On Wednesday, Microsoft introduced Majorana 1, a quantum device driven by topological superconductivity, an extreme state of matter that is neither liquid, solid, nor gas.
The method, which was written about in the scientific journal Nature, uses a specially made material called a topoconductor to create and control Majorana particles. This could allow quantum computers to solve problems that were previously impossible to solve.
In essence, a topconductor is a semiconductor—a material that can conduct energy—that also functions as a superconductor, conducting electricity with minimal energy loss, often at extremely low temperatures.
Creating such material required atomic engineering accuracy and supercooling to 400 degrees below zero, but Microsoft underlined that the effort’s complexity and cost were worthwhile given the rewards.
In a company video, Krysta Svore, a technical fellow at Microsoft, stated, “With this material, we can construct a new foundational architecture for our quantum computers, a topological core. This will allow us to scale to millions of qubits on a semiconductor, instead of tens or hundreds, all within the reach of your hand.
The project is the longest-running in Microsoft history, having begun while Bill Gates was CEO at the beginning of the century.
A million-qubit quantum computer with controlled qubits developed on the Majorana architecture might solve issues that today’s most powerful supercomputers cannot.
This includes inventing self-healing materials, catalysts that break down microplastics, enzymes to increase food production in tough climes, and revealing private Bitcoin keys.
“Imagine a processor that can fit in the palm of your hand yet can solve issues that even all the computers on the planet currently combined cannot,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tweeted immediately after the announcement. “It’s not about praising technology; it’s about creating technology that benefits the world.”
Current versions of the chip have eight topological qubits, but Microsoft believes the design can expand to one million qubits on a single palm-size chip.
This would overcome present constraints in quantum computing. “Majorana is the world’s first Quantum Processing Unit powered by a topological core, intended to expand to a million qubits on a single chip,” Chetan Nayak, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Quantum Hardware Division, stated. “Microsoft is on pace to construct a fault-tolerant prototype of a scalable quantum computer in years, not decades.”
How can I solve the quantum problem?
The device operates by coaxing unusual Majorana particles into being within a specific indium arsenide and aluminum.
When chilled to near absolute zero and controlled with magnetic fields, this material transitions to a topological superconducting state—not a solid, liquid, or gas, but something entirely else.
Microsoft believes that the Majorana project is a breakthrough in making qubits less unpredictable, which is one of the major hurdles in quantum computing.
“Majorana 1 enables us to generate a topological qubit. A topological qubit is dependable, compact, and manageable. This resolves the noise issue that causes mistakes in qubits,” Svore stated. “Every atom in this chip is meticulously positioned. The chip is constructed entirely from scratch, introducing a completely new state of matter.
Scientists have been getting closer to reaching this threshold over the last decade. Unlike previous quantum computing technologies, Microsoft’s topological qubits are naturally resistant to ambient noise, which generally upsets quantum states.
The software and technology behemoth claims that its new measuring approach has the sensitivity to detect small variations in electron counts—an important feature for properly reading qubit states.
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