Microsoft Edges Closer to Quantum Computer Based on Elusive Particle

Researchers make Majorana fermions, but now must try to control them

A “quantum fridge” keeps qubits at the super-low temperature required for computing.

Source: Microsoft

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At Microsoft Corp.'s Dutch research facility at the Delft University of Technology, several large cylindrical metal tubes hang from the ceiling.

Each tube - a dilution refrigerator used to cool circuits down to temperatures colder than deep space - costs more than $500,000, and has helped Microsoft's researchers create an elusive subatomic particle that the company hopes will serve as the building block of its effort to create commercially-viable quantum computers.