A New Way To Cool Quantum Computers Could Change How They’re Built

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 A New Way To Cool Quantum Computers Could Change How They’re Built



Schematic illustration of the quantum refrigerator in a superconducting quantum circuit. Two microwave channels act as hot and cold heat reservoirs, highlighted by a reddish and a bluish glow, respectively. The heat reservoirs are coupled to an artificial molecule consisting of two qubits. Controlled microwave noise (white zigzag arrows) is injected through the side ports to drive and regulate heat transport. Credit: Simon Sundelin.


Quantum technology has the potential to reshape many core areas of society, including drug discovery, artificial intelligence, logistics, and secure communications. Despite this promise, major engineering hurdles still stand in the way of practical applications. One of the most serious challenges is maintaining control over quantum states, which are extremely sensitive and form the foundation of quantum computing.

Superconducting quantum computers push this challenge to an extreme. To work at all, they must be cooled to temperatures near absolute zero (around -273°C). In that deep cold, electrical resistance vanishes, electrons flow freely, and qubits can reliably form the quantum states that carry information. The catch is that the same qubits can lose that information quickly if they feel tiny temperature changes, unwanted electromagnetic signals, or everyday background noise.
Scaling Challenges and the Problem of Heat.
Quantum computers need many more qubits to solve real problems, but larger devices are harder to keep quiet and evenly cold. As circuits grow, heat and noise have more ways to spread, which increases the risk of wiping out quantum information.


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