With computation potential far beyond current supercomputers, quantum computers are the subject of enthusiastic research and development worldwide. In 2023, Academia Sinica successfully overcame various bottlenecks in the fabrication, control, and measurement of quantum chips. In October, the creation of a 5-qubit superconducting quantum computer developed in Taiwan marked a significant milestone. Starting this week, it will be made available online to project collaborators.

Dr. Chii Dong Chen, Distinguished Research Fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of Physics and Research Center for Applied Sciences, noted that this project is part of the quantum technology special project funded by the National Science and Technology Council. Initially scheduled to build a 3-qubit quantum computer by February of 2024, Academia Sinica's research team surpassed the development schedule approved by the National Science and Technology Council and built a 5-qubit system by October of 2023. The fidelity of the quantum bit logic gates reached an impressive 99.9%.While quantum computing technology continues to advance, development efforts are still required for business and daily applications. The 5-qubit superconducting quantum computer developed by Academia Sinica is provided to project collaborators for research and testing and also serves as a platform for use by other research and development units to develop extremely low-temperature CMOS and parametric amplifiers.

President James Liao remarked that Academia Sinica's quantum computing team has delivered impressive results with a smaller budget and in less time than other countries. The success of this project in its current stage validates the nature of scientific and technological research-- the necessity of patience in solving fundamental problems that is essential for eventual application breakthroughs. This advance by Academia Sinica will drive research and industry development in quantum technology and attract domestic and international talent to help Taiwan gain advantage in this field.

This project is a collaboration of domestic and international teams, including the Industrial Technology Research Institute, National Applied Research Laboratories, National Changhua University of Education, National Central University, National Chung Hsing University, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Funding is provided by the National Science and Technology Council and Academia Sinica.