What is Majorana 1 by Microsoft and how it works? Explained

Microsoft has created a lot of buzz in the industry with the launch of the Majorana 1 chip that is being hailed as the company’s first quantum computing chip. It will be focused on solving problems on quantum computers. It is specifically designed to make computing highly reliable, faster, and practical. Also Read: Google Unveils Quantum Chip That Outpaces the World’s Fastest Supercomputer by 10 Septillion Years

For those who are unaware, the Quantum computers work in a pretty distinct way as compared to the basic computers, relying on qubits instead of bits. This lets the machines solve problems at an exponentially faster rate. However, the biggest challenge here is that the qubits are fragile and prone to errors as well. Also Read: Modi in US: Semiconductor announcements to create up to one lakh direct jobs: MoS Rajeev Chandrashekar

Majorana 1: Material details and working

As for Majorana 1, it uses a new material dubbed topoconductor or topological superconductor. This material helps in developing a unique qubit that is stable and less prone to losing information. With this tech in action, quantum computers will be able to scale up the to millions of qubits which will work as a great contributor in solving real-world problems – reducing pollution, development of better medicines, and even the creation of self-repairing materials.

And the quantity in qubits support is more than exceptional as all the quantum chips until now had a maximum support capacity for 1000 qubits. In addition, the Majorana qubits are around 100 times smaller than the previous qubits.

Coming to its working, the Majorana 1 is based on Majorana Zero Modes (MZMs) which is a special type of quasiparticle that existed in the theory until now. Microsoft engineered a new material named topoconductors to create these particles. The material is a combination of aluminium (superconductor) and indium arsenide (semiconductor).

When it reaches absolute zero and exposed to precise magnetic field, then the material creates a state which is dubbed topological superconductivity and it hosts the Majorana particles. The MZM establish a basis of Mcirosoft Qubits where an electron is shared between the two. And this design also reduces the quantum errors.