Researchers at the California Institute of Technology, working alongside startup Oratomic, have unveiled a new approach that could dramatically reduce the number of qubits required for fault-tolerant quantum computing potentially accelerating the path to practical machines.

According to the team, a fully functional quantum computer might operate with just 10,000 to 20,000 qubits, a sharp drop from earlier estimates that ran into the millions. The breakthrough stems from a novel quantum error-correction architecture designed to minimize the number of redundant qubits needed to detect and fix errors—one of the biggest hurdles in building reliable quantum systems.

Figure 1. Shor's Algorithm Can Break Modern Cryptographic Schemes.

Quantum computers rely on qubits, which are extremely sensitive and prone to noise. Traditional methods often require around 1,000 physical qubits to produce a single stable logical qubit, making large-scale systems complex and resource-intensive. Figure 1 shows Shor’s algorithm can break modern cryptographic schemes.

Fewer Qubits, Faster Progress

To address this, the researchers turned to neutral atom systems, where individual atoms act as qubits and are arranged using laser-based optical tweezers. Unlike other platforms, these atoms can be moved and interconnected across long distances.

As explained by Manuel Endres, optical tweezers allow atoms to be repositioned within the array and directly entangled with others, even across significant distances. This flexibility enables the use of high-rate error-correction codes, where each physical qubit can support multiple logical qubits [1]. In some cases, a single logical qubit may require as few as five physical qubits—an enormous efficiency gain.

This method builds on rapid progress in neutral atom technology, with experimental systems already demonstrating arrays of more than 6,000 qubits. Unlike conventional approaches such as surface codes—where qubits interact mainly with nearest neighbors—neutral atom arrays support long-range connections, improving both processing efficiency and scalability.

Implications for Security

The advance could also have major consequences for cybersecurity. More efficient quantum systems would be capable of breaking widely used encryption methods like RSA and elliptic curve cryptography far sooner than expected.

Such machines could run Shor’s algorithm, developed by Peter Shor, which can factor large numbers exponentially faster than classical computers.

Veteran quantum computing researcher John Preskill noted that qubit count has long been seen as the primary barrier to fault-tolerant systems, but this new work could reshape that perspective.

Reference:

1. https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/quantum-computing-fewer-qubits-breakthrough

Cite this article:

Keerthana S (2026), From 1,000 to 5 Qubits: Quantum Leap Paves the Way for Real-World Computing, AnaTechMaz, pp.491