Helios: A 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer

Helios: A 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Helios: A 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer Anthony Ransford, Justin Bohnet This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8130124/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We report on Quantinuum Helios, a 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum processor based on the quan- tum charge-coupled device (QCCD) architecture. Helios features 137Ba+ hyperfine qubits, all-to-all connectivity enabled by a rotatable ion storage ring connecting two quantum operation regions by a junction, speed improvements from parallelized operations, and a new software stack with real-time compilation of dynamic programs. Averaged over all operational zones in the system, we achieve average infidelities of 2.5(1) × 10−5 for single-qubit gates, 7.9(2) × 10−4 for two-qubit gates, and 4.8(6) × 10−4 for state preparation and measurement, none of which are fundamentally limited and likely able to be improved. These component infidelities are predictive of system-level performance in both random Clifford circuits and random circuit sampling, the latter demonstrating that Helios operates well beyond the reach of classical simulation and establishes a new frontier of fidelity and complexity for quantum computers. Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Quantum information Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Computer science Physical sciences/Physics/Atomic and molecular physics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8130124","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":546459052,"identity":"ca69681d-e3d3-45b6-a10c-955fe6e1252d","order_by":0,"name":"Anthony Ransford","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Quantinuum","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anthony","middleName":"","lastName":"Ransford","suffix":""},{"id":546459053,"identity":"c6f1427b-ad84-49aa-9551-49af673bbcad","order_by":1,"name":"Justin Bohnet","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2228-402X","institution":"Quantinuum","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Justin","middleName":"","lastName":"Bohnet","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-17 01:45:29","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8130124/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8130124/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":96253197,"identity":"cec270a3-eec7-4cdb-a46e-9c0fcc1a52de","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-19 07:42:07","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1579231,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Heliospapernaturesubmission.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8130124/v1_covered_6c569417-6ce7-40ce-9040-b30c5c962511.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Helios: A 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8130124/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8130124/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"We report on Quantinuum Helios, a 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum processor based on the quan-\r\ntum charge-coupled device (QCCD) architecture. Helios features 137Ba+ hyperfine qubits, all-to-all\r\nconnectivity enabled by a rotatable ion storage ring connecting two quantum operation regions by a\r\njunction, speed improvements from parallelized operations, and a new software stack with real-time\r\ncompilation of dynamic programs. Averaged over all operational zones in the system, we achieve\r\naverage infidelities of 2.5(1) × 10−5 for single-qubit gates, 7.9(2) × 10−4 for two-qubit gates, and\r\n4.8(6) × 10−4 for state preparation and measurement, none of which are fundamentally limited and\r\nlikely able to be improved. These component infidelities are predictive of system-level performance\r\nin both random Clifford circuits and random circuit sampling, the latter demonstrating that Helios\r\noperates well beyond the reach of classical simulation and establishes a new frontier of fidelity and\r\ncomplexity for quantum computers.","manuscriptTitle":"Helios: A 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-19 06:20:24","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8130124/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":false,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nature","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature](http://www.nature.com/nature/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c647d616-9631-4990-b925-2cbd92980b81","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 19th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":58133147,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Quantum information"},{"id":58133148,"name":"Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Computer science"},{"id":58133149,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Atomic and molecular physics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-02T17:45:09+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-19 06:20:24","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8130124","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8130124","identity":"rs-8130124","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}