Oxford Ionics, a world leader in trapped-ion quantum computing, today announced that it has delivered and installed a full-stack quantum computer, called QUARTET (QUantum Advantage-Ready Trapped-ion Exploration Testbed), to the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC).

The NQCC is the UK’s national laboratory for quantum computing, focused on conducting critical applications research with partners across industry, academia, and government. As part of its testbed programme, the NQCC has funded the supply of an Oxford Ionics’ state-of-the-art quantum computer in collaboration with Innovate UK, in order to test and develop key commercial use cases for quantum computing. QUARTET has now been installed in the NQCC’s quantum data centre at its Harwell Campus.

QUARTET is a full-stack, trapped-ion quantum computer that leverages Oxford Ionics’ proprietary Electronic Qubit technology, which uses electronics instead of lasers to control its qubits. Everything required to trap and control qubits is integrated onto a standard electronic chip manufactured via standard semiconductor foundries – unlocking both unparalleled scalability and performance. This approach has yielded the highest performing quantum platform in the world, with Oxford Ionics holding the record for two-qubit gate fidelity, single-qubit gate fidelity, and quantum state preparation and measurement (SPAM).

Crucially, all Oxford Ionics quantum computers are field-upgradeable, meaning the existing system installed at the NQCC can be upgraded to the same specification as the company’s highest-performing systems by simply swapping out the credit-card sized Quantum Processors Unit (QPU). This will allow the NQCC to benefit from seamless upgrades to higher performance and increased compute power at unprecedented speed – without changing any of the surrounding infrastructure.

Oxford Ionics and the NQCC will also leverage QUARTET for critical research and development as part of the UK’s Quantum Missions programme. The Quantum Missions programme invests in quantum computing projects that remove technology barriers to large-scale commercialisation and adoption of quantum technologies. Oxford Ionics, along with Riverlane and Bay Photonics, was selected for a Quantum Missions pilot earlier this year for its Q-Surge project, which will see the consortium upgrade QUARTET to include 2D qubit connectivity.

Dr Michael Cuthbert, Director of the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre commented: “The successful installation of the QUARTET trapped-ion quantum computer by Oxford Ionics marks a pivotal step towards the NQCC’s quantum computing testbeds initiative. The proprietary architecture of the system is designed to tackle the scalability challenges of quantum computing. We are really excited to start the testing and validating of the system for the development of algorithms and new applications.”

Dr Chris Ballance, co-founder and CEO of Oxford Ionics commented: “Installing QUARTET at the NQCC marks a major milestone – not just for our company, but for unlocking a future powered by quantum computing. QUARTET represents a significant step forward in making commercially valuable quantum computing a reality, ensuring we are equipped with the compute power to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. We’re proud to support the NQCC as they explore and develop transformative applications capable of delivering real-world impact.”

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