Microsoft Edges Closer to Quantum Computer Based on Elusive Particle

At Microsoft 's Dutch research facility at the Delft University of Technology, several large cylindrical metal tubes hang from the ceiling, according to Bloomberg.

Each tube, a dilution refrigerator used to cool circuits down to temperatures colder than deep space, costs more than $500,000, and has helped Microsoft's researchers create an elusive subatomic particle that the company hopes will serve as the building block of its effort to create commercially-viable quantum computers. The scientists say they have clear evidence of the creation of Majorana fermions, an elementary particle that its own anti-particle, in a tiny wire that is composed of both semiconducting and superconducting materials, according to research published in the journal Nature.

The unique properties of these fermions means that they could be used to create quantum computers with much lower error rates than the designs being trialed by rival companies, such as IBM and Google, that are also racing to bring quantum computers to market. Currently, those other designs produce too many errors in their calculations to be useful for practical applications, such as the ability to create new chemical catalysts or break the most popular forms of encryption.

Microsoft will now attempt to braid these tiny fermions to create qubits, the fundamental calculating hardware used in quantum computers. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said that quantum computing is one of three breakthrough technologies, the others are artificial intelligence and augmented reality, that will be critical to the future of the company. Microsoft hopes to eventually rent time on quantum computers to businesses through its cloud computing network.

So far, Microsoft’s efforts have trailed some of its competitors. D-Wave Systems in 2011 became the first company to sell a quantum computer, although its technology can only perform a certain subset of mathematical problems. Google and IBM have machines that are thought to be close to achieving “quantum supremacy“, the ability to tackle a problem too complex to solve on any standard supercomputer. Microsoft, in contrast, hasn’t yet managed to create a working qubit.

The U.S. tech company has assembled a globe-spanning team of scientists for its quantum effort, working at labs in the U.S., the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia. It has also put one of its most experienced executives, Todd Holmdahl, who previously delivered both the Xbox game console and the HoloLens augmented reality goggles, in charge of the project. Holmdahl said in an interview in November that Microsoft would have a quantum computer on the market within five years.