Duke University and IonQ demonstrate distributed entanglement across a three-node quantum network
A barrier to scaling quantum computers just moved: researchers at Duke University and IonQ $IONQ demonstrated distributed entanglement across a three-node quantum network using remote atomic qubits linked by light, a step toward wiring separate quantum processors into one larger
One of the hardest problems in quantum computing is scale: a single processor can only hold so many qubits before it becomes unmanageable. Researchers at Duke University and the company IonQ $IONQ have demonstrated a possible way around that. They achieved distributed entanglement across a three-node quantum network, connecting remote atomic qubits using photonic links, light that carries quantum information between the nodes. The approach points toward modular quantum computing, where several smaller processors are linked into one larger system rather than built as a single giant chip. It is an early result, but it targets exactly the bottleneck that has limited the field.