MOSCOW, Dec 29 — Russian scientists have created the country’s first ion-based quantum computer using a new type of quantum unit that works with seven energy levels, Xinhua reported.

The press service of the Russian Quantum Center (RQC) was quoted by TASS as saying on Monday that the new technology makes the system equal in power to a 72-qubit quantum processor and allows it to perform important calculations with very high accuracy.

Maxim Ostras, head of the RQC, said that researchers began testing this multi-level approach in 2021 with a much smaller system.

“Over just four years, we have greatly increased the computing power and created a prototype equal to 72 qubits,” he said.

Most existing quantum computers are built using qubits, which are quantum versions of classical computer bits. A normal qubit has only two possible energy levels, similar to an artificial atom.

However, scientists are now developing more complex quantum units such as three-level and four-level systems, and even higher-level ones, because they can store and process more information using fewer particles. These systems are more powerful but also more difficult to control.

The new Russian quantum computer uses 26 calcium ions, with each ion acting as a seven-level quantum unit that can take values from zero to six. To build the system, the research team, led by RQC scientist Kirill Lakhmanskiy, developed special laser equipment and a complex optical structure that allows them to precisely control the quantum states and perform key logical operations.

Tests showed that the processor can perform single-qubit operations with 99.92 per cent accuracy and two-qubit operations with 96.5 per cent accuracy, which is a record level for quantum systems of this size.

Lakhmanskiy said the team plans to soon use the new quantum computer to run algorithms for combinatorial optimisation, which are widely used in network design and other complex planning tasks. — Bernama-Xinhua