Quantum Operation Hits Record Speed at High Accuracy
A new pulse-shaping method enables faster qubit switching by suppressing errors, moving research toward scalable computing.
Updated on Oct. 23, 2026 in Quantum Computing
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Researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich have achieved a quantum operation in 6.8 nanoseconds with up to 99.989 percent accuracy. This result, published in Nature Communications, relies on a new pulse-shaping method to mitigate qubit errors.
Why it matters
Faster gate speeds allow quantum processors to execute more operations before qubits lose their state, a critical hurdle for error-corrected computing. This development addresses the challenge of unintended energy transitions that occur during high-power control pulses.
The operation reached 99.981% and 99.989% accuracy in 6.8 nanoseconds on a single superconducting transmon qubit. The technique, known as R2D, keeps the probability of leakage to higher energy levels below 0.002% per operation.
The players
Forschungszentrum Jülich
A German research center specializing in quantum computing and high-performance hardware fabrication.
The details
The team refined microwave control pulses to suppress frequency components that typically trigger unwanted transitions in transmon qubits—circuits that use superconductors to create quantum states. By precisely shaping these pulses, the researchers prevented the qubit from jumping to higher, unintended energy levels. The R2D method improves upon the Derivative Removal by Adiabatic Gate (DRAG) technique, which is a standard approach used to reduce excitation errors in superconducting hardware.
Timeline
- 2026-10-23
The research results were published in Nature Communications.
The Tech Race
This work advances the speed and precision of superconducting quantum hardware relative to current standard control methods. It specifically improves upon the DRAG correction technique to overcome the limits of pulse-induced errors.
This research remains at the experimental stage using a single qubit and is not yet integrated into commercial quantum processors. Future development will focus on scaling this method to operations involving two qubits and larger arrays.
The takeaway
Reliable quantum computing depends on minimizing state loss during rapid operations, and this 20-fold reduction in error provides a new benchmark for superconducting systems. Watch for upcoming research as the team scales this pulse-shaping method to two-qubit operations.
Further reading
Explore the ongoing shifts in high-speed hardware control in our Quantum Computing section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Fz-juelich.
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