Microsoft announces Majorana 2, the next generation of its topological quantum processor, claiming significant improvements in qubit stability.
Qubit lifetimes in Majorana 2 exceed 20 seconds — a 1,000-fold improvement over its predecessor Majorana 1 — with some qubits lasting over one minute.
Key Details
- Majorana 2 replaces the superconductor aluminum with lead and updates the semiconductor region to a combination of indium arsenide and indium arsenide antimonide.
- According to Chetan Nayak, Microsoft technical fellow and corporate vice president of quantum hardware, these material changes create a more stable topological phase.
- Microsoft has reduced its timeline for building a fault-tolerant prototype quantum computer, now aiming for 2029 instead of a previously undisclosed date.
Background
Microsoft first introduced Majorana 1 in 2024, claiming a key breakthrough in quantum computing. The announcement was met with skepticism from physicists. Majorana 2 represents the next iteration of Microsoft's topological qubit approach.
Related Release
Microsoft is releasing Discovery, an agentic AI platform used to improve its quantum chips, to customers. A local app version is available on GitHub, accessible with a GitHub Copilot account.