Rigetti UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rigetti Computing, Inc, a pioneer in full-stack quantum-classical computing, announced that it was awarded a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) grant delivered by Innovate UK and funded by the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) to develop and deliver a quantum computer to the NQCC. Rigetti proposes to deploy a 24-qubit quantum computer based on the Company’s fourth generation Ankaa™-class architecture. The system will be deployed at NQCC’s Harwell Campus, which is due to open in 2024 and will serve as NQCC’s landmark facility to support world-class quantum computing research in the UK.
The proposed system will feature the hallmarks of Rigetti’s recently launched 84-qubit Ankaa-2 system, including tunable couplers and a square lattice. This new chip architecture enables faster gate times, higher fidelity, and greater connectivity compared to Rigetti’s previous generations of quantum processing units (QPUs). The Ankaa-2 system has achieved a 98% median 2-qubit fidelity, a 2.5x improvement in error performance compared to the Company’s previous QPUs, and a 2-qubit gate time of 68 nanoseconds — the shortest gate time demonstrated by a Rigetti QPU.
Rigetti’s software development tools for designing and running quantum programs will be deployed with the 24-qubit system, giving NQCC researchers access to pyQuil® to create and execute quantum computing algorithms, Quilc™ to compile and optimize algorithms, and Quil-T™ for pulse-level control. The 24-qubit system will also include Tsunamis™, Rigetti’s industry-leading control systems. Tsunamis are cloud-ready and tuned for hybrid performance. The system will be made available over Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services (QCS™).
“It’s a great honor to be one of the first quantum computing companies awarded with the contract to establish a quantum computer at the NQCC’s landmark facility. We are thrilled that the NQCC selected our Ankaa-class system to pursue world-class research to push the boundaries of quantum technology. We believe that the speed at which we are reducing error rates on our Ankaa systems shows us that we have a clear path towards our goal of hitting 99% fidelity,” says Dr. Subodh Kulkarni, Rigetti CEO.
As part of the implementation, in addition to Rigetti’s Tsunami control systems, Riverlane plans to integrate elements of its Quantum Error Correction Stack, including a new generation of its quantum computer control system ‘Deltaflow.Control’, to execute the individual control and readout of Rigetti’s 24-qubit system. Riverlane also plans to develop and deliver a new software platform ‘Aqueduct’ designed to conduct the automation and efficient data management of complex, scalable quantum experiments.
SOURCE: Globenewswire