Researchers from Jülich, Aachen and Cologne have performed a quantum operation on a qubit in just 6.8 nanoseconds—with more than 99.98% accuracy. Such operations typically take several tens of nanoseconds in superconducting quantum computers. The paper was published in Nature Communications.

6.8 nanoseconds—that’s how long it takes light to travel a distance of around two meters (6.6 feet) in a vacuum. In this tiny fraction of a second, researchers at the Peter Grünberg Institute for Functional Quantum Systems (PGI-13) and Quantum Control (PGI-8) at Forschungszentrum Jülich have succeeded in performing elementary computing operations on a quantum bit, or qubit for short.

Switching speed is a critical factor in quantum computing. This is because qubits are sensitive and retain their quantum states for only a limited time. The faster individual operations can be performed, the more can fit into this time window. This is important for complex algorithms and for resource-intensive error correction.