Why in news?

Recently, Microsoft announced Majorana 1, a new quantum computing chip developed using engineered particles in a new state of matter, which the company sees as a breakthrough.

With this Microsoft aims to develop quantum computers capable of solving industrial-scale problems within years (2027-29) rather than decades.

Though, the company has not released any performance data on its quantum chip yet.

What’s in today’s article?

• Microsoft’s Unique Approach to Quantum Computing
• Majorana 1
• Quantum Computers vs Supercomputers vs Classical Computers

Microsoft’s Unique Approach to Quantum Computing

• For the past 20 years, Microsoft has focused on developing topological qubits, which are more stable and require less error correction than traditional qubits.
  • Topological qubits are a more stable type of quantum bit, the basic unit of quantum computers.
  • They store information in the way specially engineered particles called anyons are arranged and braided, not in the particles themselves, making them less prone to errors. 
    • Anyons are two-dimensional systems. They are neither fermions nor bosons, but have statistical properties in between the two.
• Challenges in Creating Topological Qubits
  • Developing these qubits posed a steep learning curve, as Majorana fermions—particles that are their own antiparticles—had never been physically observed before.
    • A Majorana fermion is a hypothetical particle in particle physics that is its own antiparticle, meaning it acts identically to its antiparticle.
    • Essentially, it is a fermion that can be considered as its own mirror image, unlike other particles which have distinct antiparticles. 
  • Although theorized by Ettore Majorana over 80 years ago, evidence of a type known as Majorana zero modes (MZMs) has only emerged in the last decade.
    • MZM is a special type of quantum state that appears at the ends of certain topological superconductors.
    • It is characterized by being its own antiparticle, meaning it acts like both matter and antimatter simultaneously, and exists at zero energy.
    • Due to this it becomes a promising candidate for robust quantum computation. 
• Building a New Quantum Material: Topoconductors
  • To fabricate these new particles, Microsoft developed topoconductors, made by combining indium arsenide (a semiconductor) and aluminum (a superconductor).
    • Just as semiconductors enabled modern electronics, topoconductors pave the way for scalable quantum systems, potentially reaching a million qubits to solve complex industrial and societal challenges.
  • When cooled to near absolute zero and exposed to magnetic fields, these materials merge superconductivity with semiconductors, enabling the creation of a new type of qubit.

Majorana 1

• Microsoft’s Majorana 1 is an eight-qubit chip, which is modest compared to rivals like Google’s Willow (106 qubits) and IBM’s R2 Heron (156 qubits).
• However, its Topological Core architecture could allow scaling up to a million qubits, a necessary threshold for solving real-world problems.
• Majorana 1’s Design
  • Microsoft’s Majorana 1 chip features aluminum nanowires arranged in an "H" shape.
  • Each "H" structure has four controllable Majorana particles, forming a single qubit.
• Potential Applications of Quantum Computing
  • Microsoft envisions Majorana 1 helping to develop breakthroughs such as:
    • Breaking down microplastics into harmless byproducts.
    • Inventing self-healing materials for construction, manufacturing, and healthcare.
  • Microsoft envisions using quantum computing with generative AI to design new materials or molecules through natural language input.
  • Quantum computing could generate synthetic data to improve AI model training.
• Challenges
  • Quantum systems are highly sensitive to environmental interference, causing errors.

Quantum Computers vs Supercomputers vs Classical Computers

• Classical Computers
  • Classical computers process information using binary code (bits) with values of either 0 or 1.
  • They rely on logic gates (AND, OR, XOR, NOT) to manipulate data.
• Quantum Computers
  • Quantum computers use qubits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously (superposition).
  • A qubit can have probabilities assigned to both 0 and 1, allowing it to store and process more information than a classical bit.
  • Quantum gates (H-gate, Pauli gates) enable the processing of qubits and are reversible in nature.
• Supercomputers
  • Supercomputers use advanced architectures with GPUs and multi-core processing to perform calculations faster than regular computers.
  • Despite their power, they still follow classical computing principles and logic gates.
• Quantum vs. Supercomputers
  • While supercomputers enhance classical processing speed, quantum computers can solve complex problems that classical and supercomputers cannot.
  • Quantum gates enable unique computational abilities beyond traditional logic gates.