French quantum computing company Pasqal has announced that its neutral-atom quantum technology is now available through Microsoft Azure Quantum’s cloud service. This makes Pasqal the first neutral-atom quantum computer to be accessible via Microsoft’s platform, allowing businesses and researchers to access quantum-based research without the high infrastructure costs of purchasing a quantum computer.
Pasqal’s quantum computer uses neutral-atom technology to offer analog quantum computational capabilities. Each qubit is represented by a single neutral atom that is trapped using optical tweezers, allowing computations to be achieved by using laser pulses. Unlike many other quantum technologies that require supercooling, Pasqal’s quantum computer can operate at room temperature.
Pasqal, founded in 2019, was co-founded by Professor Alain Aspect, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2022 for his work on entangled photons. In early 2023, the company received $108 million in funding and has since installed quantum computers in Saudi Arabia and Germany.
Microsoft’s Azure Quantum platform, launched in 2021, supports a variety of quantum hardware architectures from partners such as Quantinuum, IonQ, and Atom Computing. Earlier this year, Microsoft introduced the Majorana 1 quantum processing unit, which is the first to be built on a topological core. The chip is cooled close to absolute zero and features topological superconducting nanowires with Majorana Zero Modes at the wire’s ends.
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