A Hardware-Focused Tour of IBM's 127-Qubit Eagle Processor

Abstract

BM’s release of the 127-qubit Eagle processor in 2021 demonstrated a substantial lead over the Moore’s Law scaling
expected of quantum chips. With its release, IBM also announced its intention to break the 1,000-qubit threshold by
releasing its 1,121-qubit Condor processor in late 2023. At this point, both chips have been released. In an experimental
test, the Eagle processor demonstrated computational advantage over an advanced classical computer at the Lawrence
Berkeley National Lab’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. In light of this discovery, this paper will
provide a hardware-focused tour of the specific technologies that enabled the Eagle processor to break the 100-qubit
threshold and demonstrate a quantum advantage. These technologies include improvements in qubit design, topology,
signal readout, error correction, and packaging—all of which have been implemented on the Condor and can be expected in future iterations.