Quantum scalability becomes reality with new silicon-based chip

Silicon Quantum Computing has reported the demonstration of a multi-qubit, multi-register silicon quantum processor that improves in quality as the system grows. The results were published in Nature.

The study describes a processor that challenges the common trade-off between size and performance in quantum systems. As additional qubits were added, the overall qubit quality increased rather than declined.

According to the report, the processor achieved qubit fidelities of up to 99.99 percent. The results showed higher qubit counts were associated with improved performance, a requirement for fault-tolerant, large-scale quantum computing.

The work builds on SQC’s long-term focus on silicon as a quantum computing platform. Silicon is widely used in classical computing and benefits from decades of investment in semiconductor manufacturing and materials purification.

SQC manufactures its own quantum processing units using a silicon-based process refined over 25 years. The approach places individual phosphorus atoms within highly purified silicon wafers with atom-level precision.

The company reported that the processor operates across multiple quantum registers. This demonstrates consistent performance beyond single-register systems and supports further scaling.

SQC has previously reported high accuracy on benchmark quantum algorithms, including Grover’s algorithm. The new results extend this performance across larger and more complex systems.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer Michelle Simmons said the system shows improved quality as it scales. She said this reflects design choices in materials, architecture, and computing modality.

Chair Simon Segars said the results demonstrate the simplicity and effectiveness of the company’s approach. He said the work supports both scientific leadership and practical deployment.

The publication follows recent commercial progress for SQC. The company has advanced to Stage B of the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.

SQC systems have also been used by customers. Telstra reported reduced model training times using SQC’s quantum machine learning technology. Australian Defence has purchased a rack-mounted system for deployment in a data center environment.