Experimental quantum processors employing surface code error correction have successfully maintained state coherence beyond baseline decay rates. The milestone confirms theoretical models predicting that scaling physical qubit counts can suppress system error rates exponential to lattice size.
Commercial Timelines
Despite the physics demonstration, practical fault-tolerant quantum computers require an estimated 100,000 physical qubits to run useful algorithms. Engineering challenges remain focused on cryogenic interconnect density and real-time error-decoding processor latency.