Most of the quantum computers created today operate on cryogenic qubits. Some of these systems are freely available so that researchers can learn new tools. Recently, the pool of available quantum systems has been supplemented with a unique ion trap computer, which operates at higher medium temperatures than conventional cryogenic systems. The new facility is said to be open to researchers from around the world.

Part of the QScout quantum system. Image Source: Bret Latter, Sandia National Laboratories

The ion trap quantum system QScout was made publicly available by the US Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories. The work on the quantum system is also paid for by the Department of Energy, but it will be free for researchers.

The first package of projects to run on the QScout quantum system was presented by scientists from Indiana University. In the near future, the experiments will be allowed by researchers from IBM, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of New Mexico and the University of California at Berkeley.

Participant projects cover topics from testing approaches for developing algorithms to solving specific problems. True, the capabilities of the QScout system are limited to only three qubits (quantum bits). In the future, the developers of the system promise to increase the number of qubits in ion traps to 32.

The QScout quantum computer is based on a semiconductor chip with a system for capturing and retaining ytterbium ions. The electric field holds the atoms of this substance. Reading the state of qubits from ytterbium ions is done by radio waves, and the coding is done by a laser.

Theoretically, working with such systems should not fundamentally differ from working with cryogenic qubits, but there are always nuances. Before you get your hands on truly multi-qubit quantum computers with hundreds and thousands of qubits, you need to understand, using the example of the simplest quantum systems, how to use such systems efficiently, and why they are needed at all. For the sake of this, there is much to offer for free and with minimal restrictions.