Experimental comparison of two quantum computing architectures

Quantum computers are an emerging technology promising to be vastly more powerful at solving certain problems than any conventional computer. These devices are now moving out of the laboratory and becoming generally programmable. This allows identical quantum tasks or algorithms to be implemented on radically different technologies to inform further development and scaling. We run a series of algorithms on the two leading platforms: trapped atomic ions and superconducting circuits. Whereas the superconducting system offers faster gate clock speeds and a solid-state platform, the ion-trap system features superior qubits and reconfigurable connections. The performance of these systems is seen to reflect the topology of connections in the base hardware, supporting the idea that quantum computer applications and hardware should be codesigned.