On Friday, researchers from Oxford University and Osaka University in Japan published a paper showcasing the very low error rate in a trapped-ion qubit.

"Think of a qubit as a blue lamp that, quantum mechanically, can be both switched on and off simultaneously. In contrast, a continuous variable quantum system is like an infinite rainbow, offering a seamless gradient of colours. This illustrates its ability to access a vast number of states, providing far richer possibilities than the qubit's two states," says Axel Eriksson, researcher in quantum technology at Chalmers University of Technology and lead author of the study.

The challenge is that qubits are fragile: The slightest jostle by an air particle, a modicum of heat, or even a stray cosmic ray can upset a qubit’s superposition state, creating an error that throws off the result.

Because diamond color centers are solid-state systems, the qubit manufacturing is compatible with modern semiconductor fabrication processes.

They are also compact and have relatively long coherence times, which refers to the amount of time a qubit's state remains stable, due to the clean environment provided by the diamond material.