IonQ Demonstrates 1 kHz Memory-Enhanced Quantum Interconnect Connecting Trapped Ions and Diamond Color Centers
IonQ reported a memory-enhanced quantum interconnect that links a trapped ion qubit with a diamond-based quantum memory. The system operated at an entanglement rate above 1 kHz with high fidelity, which the company describes as a significant improvement over previous benchmarks. The work was carried out with Element Six and AWS.
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What this could mean
- 0–2 yearsPlausible
IonQ could use this interface within two years to connect multiple trapped-ion modules through diamond color-center memories, creating small modular processors that share entanglement across physically separated traps.
A 1 kHz entanglement rate is sufficient for near-term multi-node experiments, and the diamond memory acts as a buffer that can store photonic qubits until other nodes are ready. If the fidelity remains stable outside the lab setup, linking two or more existing IonQ traps becomes an engineering challenge rather than a physics one.
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