The Engineering Challenges in Quantum Computing
C. G. Almudever1, L. Lao1, X. Fu1, N. Khammassi1, I. Ashraf1, D. Iorga1, S. Varsamopoulos1, C. Eichler2, A. Wallraff2, L.Geck5, A. Kruth5, J. Knoch4, H. Bluhm3 and K. Bertels1
1Computer Engineering Lab and QuTech, Delft University of Technology
2Quantum Device Lab, ETH Zurich
3JARA-FIT Institute for Quantum Information, RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich
4Institute of Semiconductor Electronics and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University
5Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics, ZEA-2: Electronic Systems, Forschungszentrum Jülich
ABSTRACT
Quantum computers may revolutionize the field of computation by solving some complex problems that are intractable even for the most powerful current supercomputers. This paper first introduces the basic concepts of quantum computing and describes what the required layers are for building a quantum system. Thereafter, it discusses the different engineering challenges when building a quantum computer ranging from the core qubit technology, the control electronics, to the microarchitecture for the execution of quantum circuits and efficient quantum error correction. We conclude by discussing some compiler and programming issues relative to quantum algorithms.
