Artificial intelligence
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00:00Normally, when you hear about quantum in pop culture, you might think it's fantastical
00:12or abstract or confusing.
00:14But here, we actually get the ability to play with quantum mechanics.
00:19We can understand its properties.
00:20We can use it as a tool to solve problems.
00:23In 2019, our first significant step was to show that this technology is real.
00:29We ran a very specialized algorithm on one of our prototype quantum computers in 200
00:34seconds that would have taken the world's largest supercomputer 10,000 years.
00:40Since then, we've charted a course to make these computers large-scale and generically
00:43useful.
00:44And we're excited to give you a peek into our lab to show you what quantum computing
00:49is all about.
00:50So, you know, when people think of a quantum computer, they often think of the big dilution
00:58fridge and the beautiful chandelier.
01:01What is actually doing all the processing is this little tiny chip all the way at the
01:05bottom, and that's the quantum processor.
01:08Classical computers use binary bits, which are just zeros and ones.
01:13However, quantum bits have that same bit be some state in between a zero and a one.
01:20And that state, when you start adding arrays of quantum bits, gives you exponentially more
01:25computing power than you have with classical bits.
01:28We make qubits by putting aluminum on silicon in a special pattern, and that special pattern
01:34is our qubit.
01:35We make that quantum processor in-house here in Santa Barbara, which consists of a clean
01:40room because it's critical that we don't have anything that would cause them to lose signal.
01:45As we continue to grow the amount of qubits on our wafer, we can't shrink our qubits because
01:50they're defined by the size of the capacitor.
01:53So we have to make our processable area larger and larger.
01:57And that's where we start getting creative.
02:02Normally we kind of paint a picture for people what packaging is, because it's a very broad,
02:08vague term.
02:10Where we specifically live in that spectral electronic packaging is the bridge between
02:15the quantum processors and these large cryostats that live outside.
02:20We have all these requirements being light-tight, able to thermalize to really cold temperatures,
02:26and shielding all this stray radiation to give the qubits an environment where nothing
02:31is interacting with them from the outside world.
02:33Cold, dark, and quiet.
02:35Cold, dark, quiet.
02:36Yeah.
02:37Okay, so here's an example of one of our packages where qubits live, and signals have to connect
02:42to it all the way to the processor.
02:44Yeah, you can't see it here, but we use a very thin piece of wire.
02:50This is 18 microns in diameter to connect from the circuit board to the chip.
02:56And human hair is about 80 microns in diameter, so our wire is about a fourth.
03:01It's very tedious to physically thread it into the needle of the machine, which Anthony
03:07is really good at.
03:08I did it.
03:09And I'm really bad.
03:10I got the shot.
03:11The cool thing about this technology is that we're designing and building and testing the
03:15next generation of electronics packaging, or quantum packaging rather.
03:20Nobody else is doing what we're doing, which is why it's hard.
03:22Wow, inspirational.
03:23I'm inspiring myself.
03:24I gotta get to work.
03:25As I like to say, I have the coolest job.
03:36That's because I actually make some of the coldest spots in the universe.
03:40So you're probably wondering why we need this whole machine to only have a small chip, and
03:46That is because qubits rely on something called superconductivity, and in order to have that
03:51in the chip, you need very, very cold temperatures.
03:54This Dilution Refrigerator is made up of two main cooling loops.
03:57You have the pulse tube, which is making all the wonderful chirping noises.
04:03And then you have the dilution core, made up of a series of plates that the farther
04:07down you go, the colder you get.
04:10We start at room temperature, 50 Kelvin, 10 Kelvin, 3 Kelvin, which is outer space now
04:16for reference, 1 Kelvin, 0.1 Kelvin, 0.01 Kelvin, and this here below the plate is where
04:23we actually mount the quantum processor.
04:26Literally the coldest places in the universe.
04:29All this messy wiring over here is basically just to communicate with the qubits.
04:34You have to send them very particular signals.
04:38So part of my job is to figure out what are the signals to have these qubits do the things
04:42that we want them to do.
04:47Okay, so you've seen us make qubits, package qubits, put it into a fridge, close that fridge.
04:53We're going to cool down the fridge, but we still don't even have a quantum computer.
04:57We're going to need to control algorithms on it eventually.
05:00So to control algorithms, we're going to need a very specific arrangement of quantum gates,
05:05operations, and measurements.
05:07All of these racks and all these wires that come out of those racks are used to generate
05:11the waveforms that we'd use for control.
05:13For example, in blue, you have something that is a microwave gate, and in yellow, you have
05:16something that is a DC gate.
05:18And these are different types of operations that we would put down on our qubits.
05:22And you'll see that we're changing sort of the size and the shape of those waveforms.
05:26And that really is what the process of calibration is.
05:28You're going to do several of these different kinds of experiments, and that's a sequence
05:31of calibrations that eventually gets you to the algorithms that you want to run.
05:36Most of these cables are sending information in, a few of them are giving us information
05:39out.
05:40And you can think of that almost as if a sound wave is bouncing off a wall.
05:44It's going to come down, echo off, and return, and it's that final answer that we're actually
05:49after.
05:51What you just saw was a glimpse into the birth of an entirely new technology.
05:55One that has the capability to solve problems that would otherwise be impossible in chemistry,
06:00machine learning, material science, and medicine.
06:03We're making rapid progress, and we'll be excited to tell you about our advances in
06:07quantum hardware and cutting-edge algorithms as we continue the journey towards our next
06:11milestone.