Surface code meshed with IBM's heavy-hex architecture for the first time

Quantum Elements and the University of Southern California showed in Nature that the surface code can scale error correction on IBM's heavy-hex Heron QPU. The hybrid approach using Orbit and SWAP-based embedding gives engineers more freedom in quantum chip design.

• Surface code runs on IBM Heron heavy-hex QPU (133 and 156 qubits)
• Used depth-efficient code, dynamical decoupling and SWAP-based embedding
• Achieved directional subthreshold scaling of error correction
• Results published in Nature by Quantum Elements and USC