Bell-1 by Equal1: An inside look at Ireland’s first quantum computer

I visited Equal1’s office in UCD to take a look at Ireland’s first quantum computer in person.

Last month, I spoke to Equal1’s CEO Jason Lynch about his quantum start-up’s work and future plans in the space.

As a non-expert in physics – much less in quantum physics – it should come as no surprise that I spent much of my time before and after the interview Googling to learn more. And yet, as puzzling as it is, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by this new era of computing that humanity has entered.

Equal1 is located inside the sprawling University College Dublin campus, surrounded by other companies innovating in various sectors.

Its chief commercial officer (CCO) Patrick McNally, who joined the company last year, met up with me earlier this week to show me what they had built, a quantum processing unit (QPU) – Ireland’s first ever.

“Quantum seems to be the realm of science fiction. This potential to have a compute power that could address problems that classical computing frankly has never been able to,” he says.

But Equal1, and much bigger and long-established tech innovators such as Nvidia and IBM are working towards making its applications a reality. And McNally’s job is to ensure that it attracts the right eyes.

Silicon spin

Quantum computing utilises the unique behaviours of quantum physics to its advantage, giving it exponential power to compute at a scale much faster than traditional computing.

Recently, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that he expects quantum computing to start solving real-world problems in the coming years.

The tech is complementary to classical computing – not a replacement, McNally says. It addresses problems that would take too long for classical computers.

Experts say that quantum is set to benefit a vast variety of industries, from finance, defence, life sciences, telecommunications and manufacturing – you name it.

However, these quantum machines are expensive to build and need to be kept at temperatures colder than outer space in order to reduce disturbances that could affect its miniscule components.

But Equal1 has taken an approach to building a quantum machine that aims to achieve faster commercialisation. The company uses silicon spin technology – or the ability to use existing semiconductor tech – to create their quantum processing unit, the Bell series.

Silicon spin “seemed to be the one that had the most potential for rapid acceleration to deliver a quantum machine at a price point that could be accessible”, McNally tells me.

Due to their compatibility with existing semiconductor tech, they are considered to be highly scalable.

The company’s quantum processing unit, Bell-1, uses parts made for other uses, such as cryo-coolers typically made for MRI machines and chips made by TSMC and similar companies, that produce chips for traditional computing.

This means companies that use silicon spin tech can leverage decades worth of advancements in classical computing.

“It just so happens that our particular chip has quantum bits on it as opposed to standard bits. But the technology is fundamentally a transistor.”

The six-qubit Bell-1 is the first-ever Irish-made quantum computer and according to the company, the world’s first silicon-based quantum server designed for data centres and high-performance computing.

For silicon spin, six qubits is quite large, McNally says. In fact, “we are the first silicon spin quantum computer to have any number of qubits in a rack-mounted device”, he adds.

Bell-1

The company prices its QPU at €2m. In comparison, other non-silicon spin quantum computers out there are priced at anywhere between €5m to €100m.

“We’re building a technology that is very similar to the GPU. So think of it as; ‘Compute happens on CPUs, on GPUs – it will also happen on QPUs’,” says McNally.

Bell-1 is situated in a dedicated room in Equal1’s office. The QPU is surprisingly small – for a quantum computer that is – standing at height of 160cm, weighing at 200kg and needing only 1600W to power itself. It runs at 0.3 millikelvin, not nearly as cold as many of the other quantum machines around.

The device’s brains – the quantum system on a chip – sits inside a heavy metal cooling chamber and is connected to control electronics.

According to the company’s chief technology officer Brendan Barry, much of the energy is used to keep the device cool. “The chip itself uses less than 1W,” he says.

A full look at Bell-1. Image: Equal1

And alongside are some of Equal1’s previous QPU iterations, all droning away together. Bell-1, just plugged away in a wall, is connected to a computer running live programs.

“Next year, we will have 17 [qubits]. The year after that 49, the year after that, 2,000. Today, IBM has 140, approximately,” the CCO says. Basically, the more qubits you have, the more you can do with the quantum machines.

Qubits, by their physical nature, are less reliable than regular bits. And many companies, such as IBM, are working towards a fault-tolerant quantum computer that aims to eliminate the fidelity. However, Equal1 sees opportunity in noisy qubits.

“Qubits, by their nature, are prone to interference, magnetic impulses. Noise is what we call this in generic terms.”

There’s a particular advantage in this, McNally says. Noisy qubits are equal to or potentially better than classical computing in certain use cases.

Aggressive roadmap

Equal1 is planning for a several million euro-worth funding round this year. The CCO says that the company has a “aggressive roadmap” to pursue the opportunities it sees ahead of itself.

“The adoption of quantum will happen where companies are able to access that compute resource in the same way they access compute resource today – which is typically through high-performance computing centres.

“Our role is to ensure that we can work with that ecosystem.” Plus, newer versions of the Bell series will allow users to just swap out the old chip board and put a new one in, saving further costs down the line.

Equal1 aims to be a central fixture in the quantum space. Its CEO Lynch told the audience at an Enterprise Ireland event recently that his start-up could be the “Nvidia of quantum” within the next decade.

The company has received support from UCD, Enterprise Ireland, a slew of Government departments as well as research organisations such as iCheck and Cedar.

However, McNally says that raising funding in Ireland can be more challenging than in Silicon Valley, where there’s more overall funds to tap into.

“And that’s a complaint not just for Irish companies. A lot of companies and start-ups in Europe would say the same thing.” Still, they see themselves headquartered in Ireland in the long run.

“Technology access is as fundamental as energy, housing, water,” McNally says.

“We are very supportive of the efforts of the Irish Government to ensure that Ireland owns its own digital infrastructure. Not just for classical, but particularly for quantum and where quantum could go for future possibilities.”

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