Our Quantum Computer

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The Open Quantum Design (OQD) intellectual property (IP) includes a full stack, trapped ion quantum computer, which was developed at the Institute for Quantum Computing and Perimeter Institute’s Quantum Intelligence Lab. 

OQD’s technology features novel and scalable approaches for the trapping, control, and read-out of ions. This includes a unique blade trap design,  agile optical scheme  for low crosstalk addressing the ions, high-fidelity and all-to-all gate connectivity, and native support for mid-circuit measurements.

All components of the stack will be open under an Apache 2.0 license (or similar) - from hardware designs and the middleware control stack, to the top level programming interfaces. OQD’s vision is to build a collaborative community for technology co-creation, in order to democratize and accelerate the benefits of quantum computing technologies for all.  

Open-source is more accessible and a proven environment for innovation. By sharing resources, knowledge, and designs, a global community of participants from diverse backgrounds can contribute to and accelerate the development of quantum technologies.   

OQD’s open-source approach:
 

• Provides transparency and accessibility to software and hardware
• Deepens connections between academia, industry, and government through a collaborative sandbox with clear rules of engagement
• Builds trust through collective decision-making to the benefit of the ecosystem and technology
• Fosters collaboration on the hardest technical challenges
• Increases cost-efficiency through collaboration and standards development
• Attracts and mobilizes IP into the quantum ecosystem
• Fuels outreach and education to train the next generation of scientists and entrepreneurs

Join the OQD community.

Have you wondered what is actually inside the quantum computer? While it might look like a lot of tubes, wires and canisters, the computer is precisely designed and fabricated to perform complex computations.

• Vacuum chamber: high vacuum removes all particles from the chamber, allowing the ions to be highly isolated from the environment.
• Trapping electrodes: uses electromagnetic potentials to trap ions within an area of the chamber.
• Lasers: an array of lasers at different wavelengths and powers are needed to initialize, manipulate, and measure the ions in the trap.
• Optical elements: many optical components are needed around the lasers to control the beams’ frequency, polarization, phase, and intensity.
• Control electronics: real-time control electronics orchestrate all of the components, utilizing field programmable gate array (FPGA) cards and radiofrequency components.
• User interface: software that lets users access and run the quantum computer, in order to test ideas, run algorithms, and develop use-cases.

• All-to-all connectivity of qubits, high fidelity operations, and long-coherence times.
• Agile and ultra-low crosstalk addressing of ions via a novel optical addressing scheme.
• Ion trap and control systems that are designed from the ground up for mid-circuit measurements.
• Modular real-time control hardware, building on top of the Sinara open-hardware ecosystem.
• Reusable and extensible control software, aimed at replicating control elements across different trapped ion systems.
• Ability to program the computers at multiple levels of abstraction, depending on users’ needs and expertise. This includes defining and running quantum programs as digital circuits, analog circuits, and atomic protocols.
• Suite of state-of-the-art classical emulator backends for testing, prototyping, and validating quantum programs.

Join the OQD community.

• [1] Maslov, D., Nam, Y. & Kim, J. An Outlook for Quantum Computing [Point of View]. Proc. IEEE 107, 5–10 (2019).
• [2] Pogorelov, I. et al. Compact Ion-Trap Quantum Computing Demonstrator. PRX Quantum 2, 020343 (2021).
• [3] Blatt, R. & Wineland, D. Entangled states of trapped atomic ions. Nature 453, 1008–1015 (2008).
• [4] Shammah, N. et al. Open Hardware in Quantum Technology. Preprint at https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2309.17233 (2023).
• https://iopscience-iop-org.proxy.lib.uwaterloo.ca/article/10.1088/2058-9565/ace6cb/pdf