{"id":235615,"date":"2026-04-20T22:34:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/two-paths-to-scalable-quantum-computing-optical-links-between-fridges-and-higher-temperature-qubits"},"modified":"2026-04-20T22:34:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:34:40","slug":"two-paths-to-scalable-quantum-computing-optical-links-between-fridges-and-higher-temperature-qubits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/two-paths-to-scalable-quantum-computing-optical-links-between-fridges-and-higher-temperature-qubits","title":{"rendered":"Two paths to scalable quantum computing: Optical links between fridges and higher-temperature qubits"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Superconducting qubits\u2014bits of quantum information\u2014have been widely considered a promising technology for moving quantum computing forward. But there\u2019s still much work to be done before they can be brought out of a near absolute zero temperature environment. The lab of Professor Hong Tang has recently published two studies that advance the technology.<\/p>\n

To solve practical problems, quantum processors need a lot of qubits\u2014up to thousands to millions. Such a large number of qubits requires significantly complex wiring and a way to store them at a temperature colder than deep space. This is complicated by the physical size of the cryogenic devices, known as dilution refrigerators, that maintain qubits at a temperature just above absolute zero. In a study<\/a> published in Nature Photonics<\/i>, Tang\u2019s research team has found a way around this obstacle.<\/p>\n

A flexible and cost-effective solution is to build a quantum network by connecting qubits inside separate refrigerators. Connecting qubits with standard coaxial cables, however, wouldn\u2019t work if those cables were kept in a room temperature environment. And storing them all in one very cold room would be near impossible. Even under an optimistic assumption of 1,000 qubits per refrigerator, scaling to 1 million qubits would require linking 1,000 refrigerators\u2014an arrangement that is physically impractical within a single room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Superconducting qubits\u2014bits of quantum information\u2014have been widely considered a promising technology for moving quantum computing forward. But there\u2019s still much work to be done before they can be brought out of a near absolute zero temperature environment. The lab of Professor Hong Tang has recently published two studies that advance the technology. To solve practical [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1523,1617,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computing","category-quantum-physics","category-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235615\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}