Overview
- A cross-institutional assessment in Science charts progress from lab proofs to early integrated systems across computing, networking, sensing, and simulation.
- Superconducting qubits lead for computing, neutral atoms for simulation, photonic qubits for networking, and spin defects for sensing in the comparative readiness snapshot.
- The authors say practical applications like advanced chemistry will require millions of physical qubits and error rates beyond what current devices achieve.
- Key scaling bottlenecks include materials and mass-producible fabrication, wiring and signal delivery, cryogenic power and temperature management, and automated calibration and control.
- Invoking the 1960s “tyranny of numbers,” the paper urges patient, system-level engineering and tri-sector collaboration, noting today’s TRL gains do not imply near-term utility-scale machines.