https://doi.org/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-026-00495-x
Review
Performance-centric roadmap for building a superconducting quantum computer
1
Institute for Functional Quantum Systems (PGI-13), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany
2
Institute for Quantum Computing Analytics (PGI-12), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany
3
Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
4
Theoretical Physics, Saarland University, 66123, Saarbrücken, Germany
a
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received:
14
July
2025
Accepted:
5
March
2026
Published online:
18
March
2026
Abstract
One of the outstanding challenges in contemporary science and technology is building a quantum computer that is useful in applications. By starting from an estimate of the algorithm success rate, we can explicitly connect gate fidelity to quantum system size targets and define a quantitative roadmap that maximizes performance while avoiding distractions. We identify four distinct phases for quantum hardware and enabling technology development. The aim is to improve performance as we scale and increase the algorithmic complexity the quantum hardware is capable of running, the algorithmic radius, towards a point that sets us up for quantum advantage with deep noisy intermediate-scale quantum computing (NISQ) as well as building a large-scale error-corrected quantum computer (QEC). Our hope is that this document contributes to shaping the discussion about the future of the field.
© The Author(s) 2026
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
