StoryHardware
IBM releases Nighthawk r2, running 7,500-gate circuits with about 25x Heron's circuit throughput
IBM released Nighthawk r2, a 120-qubit superconducting processor with 218 couplers and a dedicated reset element on every qubit. Fast reset lets qubits return to a clean starting state in about a microsecond between runs, so it executes over 100,000 circuits per second, about 25x IBM's Heron. It returned accurate results on circuits of more than 7,500 gates and is available on IBM Quantum Platform.
- The reset element briefly drains a qubit's energy in about 25 nanoseconds instead of waiting roughly 200 microseconds for it to decay on its own.
- Heron runs about 4,000 circuits per second; IBM says gate quality stays at Heron level and reset does not disturb neighbouring qubits.
- Initialisation error, from qubits not starting cleanly, fell about 25x.
- Early users saw a 12x speedup on neutron-scattering simulations and up to 10x faster runs on advantage-candidate circuits with no accuracy loss.