Russian Quantum Center and Physics Institute named after Lebedev RAS presented a prototype of a device based on ions, which by 2024 will become the basis of a future quantum computer with cloud access.

Scientists have developed a system of four qubits without increasing the number of ions, but using the technology of scaling quantum processors using multilevel storage media, qudits.

In the course of the experiment, the researchers "captured two ions in a vacuum chamber and, using a laser, performed a set of one-qubit operations on them, a two-qubit operation inside a qubit, and an operation to entangle 2 particles (Mölmer-Sorenson)." Thus, the scientists were able to show that the quality of operations between qubits connected in a quart (qudits capable of simultaneously being in four states) surpasses the quality of operations on independent particles. In the future, this should provide higher quality implementation of quantum algorithms.

The prototype was created as part of the roadmap for quantum computing.

Original (in Russian)