QuiX Quantum Demonstrates Below-Threshold Error Mitigation in Photonic Quantum Computing for First Time

Netherlands company’s demonstration of a production-ready method to reduce errors in a quantum computer is a first for the European quantum industry.

QuiX Quantum, a leading provider of photonic quantum computing hardware, today announced it has demonstrated “below-threshold” error mitigation for the first time on a photonic chip-based quantum computer, suppressing physical qubit errors to a level compatible with scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computing.

The achievement marks the first time a European company has demonstrated a production-ready method of error reduction, highlighting the scalability of the QuiX quantum computing platform based on photonics. The project was conducted on the QuiX BiaTM Cloud Quantum Computing Service in collaboration with NASA’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the University of Twente, and Freie Universität Berlin.

Quantum information is fragile, and without error correction, a computation of any user-relevant size will be impossible. For this reason, the ability to control errors in quantum states is seen as a crucial milestone for any competing computing platform. Increasingly, experts consider the ability to manage such errors the key differentiator among technological approaches.

For such a protocol to be meaningful, it must meet two conditions: it must remove more errors than it introduces, and it must not impede the operation of the rest of the computer. QuiX is the first party in the quantum photonics field to demonstrate a protocol that meets both requirements simultaneously. The findings are described in a paper available here.

CEO of QuiX Quantum claims, “Below-threshold physical error mitigation has never been implemented in a photonic quantum computer. This achievement marks a significant milestone and places QuiX Quantum at the forefront of progress towards fault-tolerant photonic quantum computing,” said Stefan Hengesbach, CEO of QuiX Quantum. “We believe the most resource-efficient strategy is to reduce errors early rather than correct them at great expense, and by demonstrating net positive error mitigation on real hardware, we’ve taken a foundational step that showcases European leadership in accelerating quantum technologies towards powerful, large-scale systems.”

“This paper represents an important leap forward towards large-scale photonic quantum computing,” said David DiVincenzo, Director of the Institute of Theoretical Nanoelectronics at the Peter Grünberg Institute at Forschungszentrum Jülich. “By using a multimode optical Fourier transform, the authors have experimentally established an elegant photon distillation scheme that could significantly reduce required resource costs in future photonic quantum processors. This work takes a major step forward in addressing one of the most persistent bottlenecks in creating indistinguishable photons, offering a glimpse of a scalable path towards quantum fault tolerance.”

“For any quantum computing modality to scale, you must prove you can remove more error than you add while the computer is still able to run, and that’s what we’ve shown here,” said Jelmer Renema, Chief Scientist at QuiX. “Our photon distillation gate is compatible with running real computations and delivers net-gain error mitigation once all gate noise is included. That’s why this is a major achievement for photonics and quantum computing in general.”

The project was partially funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Defence’s Purple NECtar Quantum Challenges initiative.

About QuiX Quantum

QuiX Quantum is a leading provider of photonic quantum computing hardware, driving innovation across Europe in the development of its Universal Quantum Computer. The first system, already sold and contracted for delivery, underscores the impact of QuiX Quantum’s market-leading hardware and renowned quality. Following its expansion across Europe and the UK, QuiX Quantum continues to push the boundaries of quantum technology and industry, strengthening Europe’s international competitiveness, leveraging a wide network of partners while serving a growing global customer base