Iqm Emerald

Qubit Architecture and Technology: The IQM Emerald is built upon 54 superconducting transmon qubits, a technology widely adopted in the quantum computing industry due to its relatively good coherence properties and fast gate operations. Transmon qubits are a type of charge qubit designed to be less sensitive to charge noise, achieved by increasing the Josephson energy to charging energy ratio. This design choice contributes to the system's reported high fidelities. The system operates in a 'Gate-based NISQ' mode, meaning it supports a universal set of quantum gates for programming algorithms, but users must contend with noise and limited coherence times inherent to current-generation hardware. This necessitates the use of error mitigation techniques rather than full fault-tolerant error correction.

The connectivity topology is a square lattice with tunable couplers. A square lattice provides local connectivity, which is highly advantageous for implementing certain quantum algorithms, particularly those that map well to 2D grids, such as quantum simulations of condensed matter systems or the foundational building blocks of surface codes for quantum error correction. The inclusion of tunable couplers is a sophisticated feature, allowing for dynamic adjustment of the interaction strength between adjacent qubits. This can be crucial for optimizing two-qubit gate fidelities, reducing crosstalk, and potentially enabling more complex or application-specific interaction patterns, offering greater flexibility and control over quantum operations.

Native Gates: The Emerald supports a universal gate set comprising arbitrary X and Y rotations for single-qubit operations, and the CZ (Controlled-Z) gate for two-qubit interactions. Single-qubit rotations allow for precise manipulation of individual qubit states, while the CZ gate is fundamental for creating entanglement, a key resource in quantum computation. The ability to perform these gates with high fidelity is paramount for executing complex quantum circuits effectively.

Performance Metrics: Error Rates and Fidelities: The reported median 1-qubit (1Q) fidelity is 99.93% (as of July 2025), and the median 2-qubit (2Q) fidelity is 99.5% (as of July 2025). These figures are critical for assessing the quality of quantum operations. A 1Q fidelity of 99.93% implies that, on average, only 7 out of every 10,000 single-qubit operations will result in an error. Similarly, a 2Q fidelity of 99.5% means approximately 50 errors per 10,000 two-qubit operations. While these numbers represent excellent performance for NISQ devices, it's important for data analysts to understand that errors accumulate exponentially with circuit depth and qubit count. For example, a circuit with 100 two-qubit gates would, on average, experience multiple errors, highlighting the ongoing challenge of noise in current quantum systems. The 'median' qualifier indicates that these are typical values, and individual qubit pairs may exhibit slightly different performance characteristics, which is common in multi-qubit systems.

Benchmark Results: The IQM Emerald has demonstrated competitive benchmark results, providing concrete indicators of its computational capabilities:

• Quantum Volume (QV): 64 (August 2025). Quantum Volume is a holistic metric that assesses the effective computational power of a quantum computer, taking into account qubit count, connectivity, and gate fidelity. A QV of 64 implies that the system can reliably execute a square circuit of 6x6 qubits (since 2^6 = 64), demonstrating a significant level of coherent control over a substantial number of qubits. This places Emerald among the more capable NISQ devices for general-purpose quantum computation.
• CLOPS (Circuit Layer Operations Per Second): 2550 (August 2025). CLOPS measures the throughput of a quantum processor, indicating how many layers of quantum gates can be executed per second. A CLOPS score of 2550 suggests very fast execution capabilities, which is crucial for running iterative algorithms, performing extensive characterization, or executing many short circuits in a given time frame. This metric is particularly relevant for users concerned with the speed of their quantum experiments.
• Q-Score: 24 (August 2025). Q-Score is a newer benchmark designed to evaluate a quantum computer's performance on specific, application-relevant tasks, often related to optimization or simulation. A score of 24 indicates strong performance within the Q-Score benchmark suite, suggesting the Emerald is well-suited for certain types of practical quantum applications.
• GHZ 49 qubits: The successful generation of a Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) state on 49 qubits is a remarkable experimental achievement. A GHZ state is a maximally entangled state across multiple qubits, and its creation on such a large number of qubits demonstrates exceptional control over entanglement generation and preservation, which is fundamental for many quantum algorithms and quantum error correction schemes.

System Limits and Features: The system offers unlimited shots per job, a crucial feature for statistical analysis, error mitigation techniques like zero-noise extrapolation, and comprehensive characterization of quantum states. This flexibility allows users to collect sufficient data to overcome statistical uncertainties inherent in quantum measurements. The system supports circuit depths of up to thousands of gates, with fast gate durations of 20-40 ns. These fast gate times are essential for performing a significant number of operations within the qubits' coherence times, maximizing the effective circuit depth before noise dominates. Furthermore, the IQM Emerald supports dynamic circuits, a powerful capability that allows for mid-circuit measurements and conditional execution of subsequent gates based on those measurement outcomes. This feature is foundational for implementing advanced error detection and correction protocols, adaptive quantum algorithms, and more efficient resource utilization in quantum programs.

Trade-offs and Use Cases: A key advantage of the Emerald is its ability to offer 3x the qubits compared to IQM's Garnet system with comparable quality. This represents a significant scaling achievement, demonstrating IQM's progress in maintaining high performance while increasing qubit count. The square lattice connectivity means the system supports surface code architectures, which are leading candidates for fault-tolerant quantum error correction. However, as a NISQ device, it still operates with inherent noise, meaning full fault tolerance is not yet achieved, but it serves as an excellent platform for researching and developing error correction primitives. The primary use cases for the IQM Emerald include algorithm scaling studies (investigating how quantum algorithms perform as qubit counts increase), error mitigation research (developing and testing techniques to reduce the impact of noise), and entanglement studies (exploring the fundamental properties of multi-qubit entanglement and its applications).

The IQM Emerald quantum processing unit made its public debut with a simultaneous announcement and availability on July 21, 2025. This synchronized launch strategy indicates a mature product ready for immediate deployment and use by the quantum computing community. The rapid transition from announcement to public accessibility is a testament to IQM's development capabilities and their commitment to providing timely access to their hardware innovations.

This initial release on July 21, 2025, marked the first time the 54-qubit Emerald system became available on cloud platforms, specifically AWS Braket and IQM Resonance. This immediate cloud integration is a strategic move, allowing a broad base of researchers and developers to begin experimenting with the system without the need for on-premise hardware. The availability date is critical for data analysts, as it sets the baseline for performance metrics and subsequent updates. The initial performance metrics, such as the 1Q and 2Q fidelities, were characterized around this period (July 2025), providing a snapshot of the system's capabilities at launch.

Following its initial release, key benchmark results, including Quantum Volume (QV) of 64, CLOPS of 2550, and a Q-Score of 24, were reported in August 2025. These benchmarks, measured shortly after the system's availability, confirm its performance and provide concrete data points for comparison against other quantum processors. The rapid succession of availability and benchmark reporting underscores the dynamic and fast-paced nature of quantum hardware development and characterization.

As of the latest information, there have been no major revisions to the IQM Emerald system since its launch. This suggests a stable and well-characterized hardware platform. Furthermore, the system is actively maintained and is an integral part of IQM's broader 'Resonance' platform roadmap. This 'Active, part of Resonance' status implies ongoing support, potential future integrations, and a commitment to its long-term development within IQM's ecosystem. For users, this means the Emerald is not a standalone, one-off release but a foundational component of IQM's evolving quantum computing offerings.

The timeline of the IQM Emerald's introduction reflects a strategic approach to scaling superconducting qubit technology. By offering 54 qubits with comparable quality to previous, smaller systems like Garnet, IQM is demonstrating a clear path towards increasing qubit counts while maintaining performance. The immediate cloud availability on AWS Braket further solidifies its position as an accessible and relevant platform for current quantum research. The continuous characterization and benchmarking, as evidenced by the July and August 2025 dates for fidelities and benchmarks respectively, highlight the iterative process of quantum hardware development and the importance of up-to-date performance data for users and analysts alike. This ongoing engagement ensures that the IQM Emerald remains a pertinent tool for exploring the challenges and opportunities of the NISQ era, contributing significantly to the global effort to advance quantum computing capabilities.

Verification confidence: High. Specs can vary by revision and access tier. Always cite the exact device name + date-stamped metrics.