Yes, researchers and companies have made significant progress in building and operating working quantum computers. While practical quantum computers are still in their early stages of development and face numerous technical challenges, there have been notable achievements in demonstrating quantum computing capabilities.
Quantum computers have been built using various physical platforms, including superconducting qubits, trapped ions, topological qubits, and others. These platforms utilize different technologies to create and manipulate qubits, the fundamental units of quantum information.
Several organizations and companies have made notable advancements in quantum computing:
IBM: IBM has developed and made available a series of quantum computers through its IBM Quantum Experience platform. They have built quantum computers with increasing qubit counts and have made progress in error correction techniques.
Google: Google's research team, in collaboration with NASA, demonstrated quantum supremacy in 2019. They developed a quantum computer called "Sycamore" with 53 superconducting qubits, which performed a specific calculation that would be infeasible for classical computers to solve within a reasonable timeframe.
IonQ: IonQ is a company that focuses on trapped-ion quantum computing. They have built ion trap quantum computers with up to 32 qubits and have made progress in improving qubit coherence and gate fidelity.
Rigetti Computing: Rigetti Computing is another company working on developing quantum computers. They utilize superconducting qubits and have built quantum processors with up to 31 qubits.
Other players: Other companies and research institutions, such as Microsoft, Intel, D-Wave Systems, and many startups, are actively engaged in the development of quantum computers, each with their own approaches and technologies.
It's important to note that the current state of quantum computers is still in the realm of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. These devices have limited qubit counts and face challenges related to noise, errors, and scalability. However, they are being used for exploring quantum algorithms, error correction techniques, and applications in fields like optimization, simulation, and cryptography.
The field of quantum computing is evolving rapidly, and ongoing research and development aim to overcome current limitations and build more powerful and scalable quantum computers in the future.