A schematic diagram of the 2D superconducting quantum processor. [Photo/Website of the University of Science and Technology of China]
China's top 10 scientific advances of 2021 were unveiled on Feb 28 by the Ministry of Science and Technology's High Technology Research and Development Center.
One of the top 10 advances is the design of a 62-qubit programmable superconducting quantum processor by a research team headed by renowned Chinese quantum physicist Pan Jianwei.
The processor, named "Zu Chongzhi" after the noted 5th century Chinese mathematician and astronomer, has significantly enhanced the potential of quantum computations.
The processor contains the largest number of superconducting qubits in the world so far and has achieved two-dimensional programmable quantum walks on the system, marking a major milestone.
Pan Jianwei, who is 52 years old, was born and raised in Dongyang, a county-level city administered by Jinhua in Zhejiang province.
Pan Jianwei (middle) with his team at Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale. [Photo provided to China Daily]
