Quantum computers: IBM reveals Condor and Heron quantum CPUs

Just a year ago, technology giant IBM introduced quantum processor Osprey, which runs at 433 qubits. This has now been succeeded by the IBM Condor, which clocks at an impressive 1121 qubits. While the new Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) from IBM is forced to concede defeat to Atom Computing with 1180 qubits, it has nonetheless managed to increase the qubit density by more than 50% compared to its in-house predecessor.

At first glance, the second QPU, which IBM recently presented on December 4 at the Quantum Summit 2023, appears less groundbreaking: The Heron quantum processor has 133 qubits and suceeds its Eagle predecessor, which had 127 qubits. While the IBM Condor QPU is primarily used to research how many qubits can fit on a quantum processor, the IBM Quantum Heron will be used in the modular quantum computer System Two.

IBM's first System Two, with three Heron QPUs, is reportedly already in operation at IBM's Yorktown Heights research site in the USA. Although the Heron quantum processor only offers 6 qubits more than its Eagle predecessor, the new 133-qubit QPU is said to deliver a three- to fivefold increase in performance over the Eagle QPU because quantum crosstalk has been virtually eliminated.

The IBM Quantum System Two in Yorktown Heights is 22 feet wide and 12 feet high, which is approximately 6.7 by 3.7 meters. This first System Two contains three Heron QPUs and computes in a near-perfect vacuum at temperatures lower than in space, namely below -270 degrees Celsius. This means that System Two presumably operates under conditions close to absolute zero at -273.15 degrees Celsius.