Microsoft opens its Maryland quantum research center

Microsoft said it has opened its quantum research center in the University of Maryland's Discover District and said it will provide topological qubits built on its Majorana 2 quantum chip for independent testing and evaluation by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The opening of Microsoft Quantum's research center is part of a broader effort to build its quantum ecosystem. Microsoft said its quantum research center will feature a hand-on quantum space for systems builders and research workshops. The company add that it will fund quantum postdoctoral positions at the University of Maryland.

Microsoft announced the University of Maryland facility a year ago under a state program to develop quantum computing in region. The Microsoft quantum research center is 15,000 square feet and will be closer to DARPA researchers.

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According to Microsoft, it has delivered a quantum system built on Majorana 2 for testing and evaluation. Microsoft has advanced to the final stage of DARPA's Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing program, which is part of DARPA's broader Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.

Key points include:

• The quantum hardware makerspace will include initial partners AMD, Bluefors, Intel, IQM, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), Riverlane and Quantum Motion.
• Microsoft said the goal of the quantum makerspace is to bring experts together with academics, students, researchers and the business community.
• Microsoft's partnership with Fermilab is focused on applying quantum control technologies across hardware platforms. University of Maryland will explore tools such as Fermilab's Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit, or QICK, fir education.

Dr. Charles Tahan, Partner, Microsoft Quantum, made the following points in an interview:

• When asked about the system for DARPA, Tahan said the system is for testing and evaluation not production. The system will "potentially grow over time to larger prototypes," he said.
• The University of Maryland location will be handy for DARPA quantum researchers. Tahan said DARPA researchers won't have to fly to Seattle or Copenhagen. "The way the DARPA program has worked so far is that they come there," said Tahan. "That means they need to fly to Europe or fly across the U.S. This will make it a little bit more direct and continuous."
• Microsoft's quantum strategy. Tahan said Microsoft is platform agnostic and noted "we just want the best computer." He added that close partner Atom Computing is "the truly logical qubit machine controlled by Microsoft's Quantum OS Platform."