A team at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has found a way to use a microwave integrated circuit (IC) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) 28-nanometer technology to develop a low-temperature-control IC module, which can potentially reduce the size of a quantum computer by 40 percent, the institute said on Wednesday.
The National Science and Technology Council announced some of the progress it has made with Academia Sinica and the Ministry of Economic Affairs since 2021 in jointly developing quantum technologies.
The more quantum bits (qubits) a quantum computer possesses, the more information it can carry and the better it can work.
Photo: CNA
Sheu Shyh-shyuan (許世玄), a division director at the ITRI’s Institute of Electro-Optics and the head of a project on the key hardware of quantum computer subsystems, said that a quantum computer is equipped with a fridge, other devices and a crowd of cables for connections, which in combination can easily take up a whole room.
One qubit requires two to three cables, so if a 100-million-qubit system is to be realized, that would mean 300 million cables, with the size of the control device and the system for cooling scaled up accordingly.
As a result, power consumption would surge considerably, Hsu said.
It is for this reason that “minimization” is a trend in quantum computing, he said.
He said that his team utilized microwave IC design and TSMC’s 28-nanometer process technology, which are national strengths, to develop low-temperature (minus-269°C) control chips and modules to make control devices smaller and place them in a low-temperature fridge.
The design could reduce the size of the system by about 40 percent, highlighting the potential for it to be commercialized, Hsu said.
The minimization of the module can also shorten the route needed for quantum signal transmission and reduce the interruption of noise, Hsu added.
The module also cuts power consumption by more than 50 percent compared with results published by major international developers, making it an advantage for developing multiple-qubit superconducting quantum computers, he said.
The technology could be transferred to domestic companies, Hsu said, adding that some have already made inquiries about possible cooperation.
Executives from Finland-based quantum computer company IQM visited Taiwan last year to discuss possible cooperation, Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) said, adding that Taiwan, despite competing globally with limited funds, has achieved substantive results in quantum technology and is likely to become one of the nations with most potential to excel at it.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Taiwanese singer Jay Chou (周杰倫) plans to take to the courts of the Australian Open for the first time as a competitor in the high-stakes 1 Point Slam. The Australian Open yesterday afternoon announced the news on its official Instagram account, welcoming Chou — who celebrates his 47th birthday on Sunday — to the star-studded lineup of the tournament’s signature warm-up event. “From being the King of Mandarin Pop filling stadiums with his music to being Kato from The Green Hornet and now shifting focus to being a dedicated tennis player — welcome @jaychou to the 1 Point Slam and #AusOpen,” the
RSS