Chetan Nayak

What are they? The actual device is based on an interesting combination of materials. It involves a semiconductor and a superconductor, but that alone isn't enough to get this state of matter or to make the qubits that we build on it. We cool this device down to extremely low temperatures, and that's the temperature which everything stops moving and there's no energy whatsoever in a system.

What are they? The actual device is based on an interesting combination of materials. It involves a semiconductor and a superconductor, but that alone isn't enough to get this state of matter or to make the qubits that we build on it. We cool this device down to extremely low temperatures, and that's the temperature which everything stops moving and there's no energy whatsoever in a system.

And our devices are 50 millikelvins, so 50 thousandths or 0.05 kelvin which means 0.05 degrees Celsius above absolute zero. Not the freezing point, but absolute zero, which itself is minus 273 degrees Celsius. So basically, this is really, really, really cold. And the reason is because we need to keep these qubits extremely stable, and they are more stable when they're colder.

And our devices are 50 millikelvins, so 50 thousandths or 0.05 kelvin which means 0.05 degrees Celsius above absolute zero. Not the freezing point, but absolute zero, which itself is minus 273 degrees Celsius. So basically, this is really, really, really cold. And the reason is because we need to keep these qubits extremely stable, and they are more stable when they're colder.

So the fluctuations and noise that might disrupt these qubits are strongly suppressed when they're colder. The second thing that we have to do is we actually have to apply a pretty big magnetic field. So this is the kind of field where when people go into our labs, even standing outside of the fridge and outside the magnets, you have to be a little careful if you have a pacemaker, for instance.

So the fluctuations and noise that might disrupt these qubits are strongly suppressed when they're colder. The second thing that we have to do is we actually have to apply a pretty big magnetic field. So this is the kind of field where when people go into our labs, even standing outside of the fridge and outside the magnets, you have to be a little careful if you have a pacemaker, for instance.

So these are really serious, very large magnetic fields. In the units that are used here, these are two Tesla magnetic fields. So many, many thousands of times larger than the Earth's magnetic field, for instance. So these are very large magnetic fields in very low temperatures that enable us to take the raw material of the device we made and induce this new state of matter.

So these are really serious, very large magnetic fields. In the units that are used here, these are two Tesla magnetic fields. So many, many thousands of times larger than the Earth's magnetic field, for instance. So these are very large magnetic fields in very low temperatures that enable us to take the raw material of the device we made and induce this new state of matter.

People have said, you know, quantum computers, useful quantum computers are decades away. We believe that they're years away. We've actually just signed a contract with DARPA, U.S. Government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. I can't go into all the details, but we signed a contract to deliver something pretty serious on a pretty aggressive timeline.

People have said, you know, quantum computers, useful quantum computers are decades away. We believe that they're years away. We've actually just signed a contract with DARPA, U.S. Government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. I can't go into all the details, but we signed a contract to deliver something pretty serious on a pretty aggressive timeline.

And part of that process was us coming up with a very detailed plan, including not only the technical milestones, but all the other things you need to do to build something of this scale, the budgets, the hiring plans, you know, all the supply chain issues. And went over that very carefully.

And part of that process was us coming up with a very detailed plan, including not only the technical milestones, but all the other things you need to do to build something of this scale, the budgets, the hiring plans, you know, all the supply chain issues. And went over that very carefully.

I got a lot of scrutiny from DARPA and emerged at the end of that process with a plan that we think does take us to something that I think would be really cool in years and not decades. So we have a lot of confidence in our plan, and we've signed a contract, so we take that seriously and intend to deliver.

I got a lot of scrutiny from DARPA and emerged at the end of that process with a plan that we think does take us to something that I think would be really cool in years and not decades. So we have a lot of confidence in our plan, and we've signed a contract, so we take that seriously and intend to deliver.

This is the longest running R&D program in Microsoft's history. So I'm coming up on my 20th anniversary with the company and I've seen this program grow from a very, you know, for the first 10 years it was a really small pilot project with just a handful of people. mostly trying to figure out if there was anything real here to quantum computing and worth the company pursuing in a big way.

This is the longest running R&D program in Microsoft's history. So I'm coming up on my 20th anniversary with the company and I've seen this program grow from a very, you know, for the first 10 years it was a really small pilot project with just a handful of people. mostly trying to figure out if there was anything real here to quantum computing and worth the company pursuing in a big way.

We've grown over the last 10 years and especially over the last five into the kind of team that can do the science and engineering that I think is necessary to build a machine like this. Over time, we have made a number of pivots as we learn new things.

We've grown over the last 10 years and especially over the last five into the kind of team that can do the science and engineering that I think is necessary to build a machine like this. Over time, we have made a number of pivots as we learn new things.

And I think as much as we like the ideas that we've developed, we certainly have the humility to realize that other people have great ideas too, and we shouldn't fall in love entirely with our own ideas. And we also learn sometimes that Something we thought was correct wasn't correct, or something that we thought would be easy turned out to be hard, and sometimes the reverse.

And I think as much as we like the ideas that we've developed, we certainly have the humility to realize that other people have great ideas too, and we shouldn't fall in love entirely with our own ideas. And we also learn sometimes that Something we thought was correct wasn't correct, or something that we thought would be easy turned out to be hard, and sometimes the reverse.