Oxford Ionics delivers quantum computer to the NQCC

Oxford Ionics, a trapped-ion quantum computing firm, announced that it has delivered and installed a full-stack quantum computer, called Quartet, to the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC). 

The NQCC is the UK’s national laboratory for quantum computing, focused on conducting critical applications research with partners across industry, academia, and government. As part of its testbed programme, the NQCC has funded the supply of an Oxford Ionics’ state-of-the-art quantum computer in collaboration with Innovate UK, in order to test and develop key commercial use cases for quantum computing. QUARTET has now been installed in the NQCC’s quantum data centre at its Harwell campus, according to a media release.

QUARTET is a full-stack, trapped-ion quantum computer that leverages Oxford Ionics’ proprietary Electronic Qubit Control technology, which uses electronics instead of lasers to control its qubits. Everything required to trap and control qubits is integrated onto a standard electronic chip manufactured via standard semiconductor foundries.  

All Oxford Ionics quantum computers are field-upgradeable, meaning the existing system installed at the NQCC can be upgraded to the same specification as the company’s highest-performing systems by simply swapping out the credit-card sized Quantum Processor Unit (QPU). This will allow the NQCC to benefit from seamless upgrades to higher performance and increased compute power at unprecedented speed — without changing any of the surrounding infrastructure. 

Oxford Ionics and the NQCC will also leverage QUARTET for critical research and development as part of the UK’s Quantum Missions program.  

“The successful installation of the QUARTET trapped-ion quantum computer by Oxford Ionics marks a pivotal step forwards the NQCC’s quantum computing testbeds initiative,” Dr. Michael Cuthbert, Director of the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre, said. “The proprietary architecture of the system is designed to tackle the scalability challenges of quantum computing. We are really excited to start the testing and validating of the system for the development of algorithms and new applications.”

“Installing QUARTET at the NQCC marks a major milestone – not just for our company, but for unlocking a future powered by quantum computing,” Dr. Chris Ballance, co-founder and CEO of Oxford Ionics, said. “QUARTET represents a significant step forward in making commercially-valuable quantum computing a reality, ensuring we are equipped with the compute power to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. We’re proud to support the NQCC as they explore and develop transformative applications capable of delivering real-world impact.”