Q# Blog

Microsoft is focused on building a utility-scale quantum computer, and that requires fault-tolerant logical qubits. The effort has been underway for more than a decade and approaches the problem holistically by designing hardware, software, and system architecture together as a single engineered stack.   Recently, Nature published Improved quantum processor logical error rates via correction and detection reporting that Microsoft-designed error-correction protocols delivered order-of-magnitude improvements in logical error rates on Quantinuum’s state-of-the-art trapped-ion processors—the product of a rewarding technical collaboration between the two teams. Those results were a first step toward a more ambitious goal: a fully productized logical-qubit machine called Magne, built and deployed in partnership with QuNorth in Copenhagen, using Atom Computing’s neutral-atom hardware and Microsoft’s full-stack quantum software. Magne is expected to be the first general-purpose commercial machine to make logical qubits available to users on demand.   In parallel, we continue to innovate on the error-correcting codes and system architectures needed to scale fault-tolerant computation, as well as the toolchain that makes that work possible. We are also announcing deq, the newest open-source package in the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) for error correction—presented at QEC 2026 and now on GitHub under an MIT license.   The Nature paper: foundational error-correction results The Nature paper reports on two new quantum error-correction codes that Microsoft designed and optimized for an ion-trap architecture—a ⟦12, 2, 4⟧ carbon code (a substantially streamlined construction derived from Knill’s C₄/C₆ concatenation) and a ⟦16, 6, 4⟧ tesseract color code on the 4-D hypercube (Figure 1)—together with the fault-tolerant protocols that run them.   

We are pleased to announce the winners and finalists from April’s 2026 Quantum Pioneers Program – Hardware Track  

Quantum computing is entering a new phase. Across the industry, we are seeing meaningful progress on multiple fronts at once: higher-fidelity hardware, better control systems, more practical error correction, richer software tooling, and increasingly sophisticated hybrid workflows that combine quantum, AI, and high-performance computing (HPC). Useful quantum computing will not arrive from a single breakthrough in isolation; it will come from advances that work together across the full stack.   Logical qubits made from trapped ions Microsoft continues to make progress on the path to utility-scale quantum computing, as reflected in today’s publication in Nature on logical qubits. The paper, titled “Improved quantum processor logical error rates via correction and detection,” captures a set of results that marked a significant step forward for the field. By applying the Microsoft Quantum platform to Quantinuum’s trapped-ion hardware, the teams demonstrated logical error-rate improvements ranging from 11x to 800x over corresponding physical circuit baselines. In a Bell-state preparation, the logical circuit error rate was reduced from roughly 0.8% for the physical baseline to 0.001%, yielding the now well-known 800x improvement. The work also demonstrated repeated error correction with an error rate per round 51x lower than a physical baseline, along with a 22x improvement for preparing a 12-qubit cat state.  

Majorana 2 contains qubits that are 1,000x more reliable than those in our previous quantum processing unit. The new material stack, which swaps aluminum for lead, creates highly reliable topological qubits with operations on the microsecond scale and lifetimes with a mean of 20 seconds, occasionally exceeding one minute. This rapid progress, enabled by AI, has cut our timeline in half for delivering a scalable quantum computer—now anticipated by 2029.  

As quantum algorithms grow more sophisticated, teams need powerful tools that support practical, scalable quantum development. With this release, Microsoft’s Quantum Development Kit takes a major step forward. QDK v1.27.0 delivers stronger insight into program behavior, richer developer tooling, and first-class program composability across Q#, Python, OpenQASM, and leading frameworks such as Qiskit and Cirq. QDK v1.27.0 improves how developers build, inspect, and assemble quantum programs, making it easier to iterate on complex algorithms using reusable components.   AI‑assisted quantum development is now a first‑class experience in the QDK, elevating quantum development across the entire workflow. Deep integration with Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot brings intelligent assistance to every stage, from code generation and circuit reasoning to debugging, visualization, hardware submission, and resource estimation. Enhanced circuit diagrams, quantum state inspection, and a streamlined VS Code experience make iteration and exploration faster, more reliable, and more interactive across Python, Jupyter, and Q#.   Alongside these core advances, QDK for chemistry v1.1.0 expands what can be explored on today’s early fault‑tolerant hardware. In response to strong user demand, the release adds support for a broad family of model Hamiltonians, introduced through a systematic workflow that connects real molecular systems to reduced models such as the Fermi‑Hubbard Hamiltonian. Combined with stronger core primitives, deeper ecosystem integration, and a significantly faster classical pipeline, QDK for chemistry enables practical chemistry and materials science experimentation today while laying the groundwork for larger‑scale quantum capabilities ahead.   Together, these updates advance quantum computing from basic research toward practical, hardware-aware quantum engineering.   Download Microsoft’s QDK and QDK for chemistry   In the video below, hear directly from David and Stefan as they discuss the key updates in this release and what they unlock for practical quantum development.    

The field of quantum computing has advanced beyond the level of error-prone physical qubits to an era of reliable quantum computation with logical qubits. To continue making progress toward fault-tolerant quantum machines, advances in both quantum hardware and software are required. Microsoft is committed to providing the tools that developers and scientists need to enable applications on the quantum machines that exist today, as well as the fault-tolerant machines of the future.   New tools that simplify quantum development The Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (QDK) is an open-source developer toolkit for building quantum applications. It provides everything needed—from simulators to a modern programming experience—for developers to build and execute quantum code, both locally and on quantum hardware. The QDK is integrated with VS Code and GitHub Copilot to help you write, test, and execute quantum code. Microsoft’s QDK installs and runs on laptops, and GitHub Copilot makes it quick and easy to get started.    Learn more about Microsoft’s QDK   Domain libraries and workflows available with Microsoft’s QDK include those for error correction and chemistry, with other applications on the horizon. The included tools reduce the effort and expertise needed for researchers to design, test, and implement quantum chemistry applications or the error correction codes needed to create logical qubits. Both these tools and the QDK are open source and interoperable with the most popular quantum programming languages and frameworks, including Q#, OpenQASM, Qiskit, and Cirq. The quantum chemistry toolkit supports WSL and Docker support for reproducibility and portability across systems.  

At Microsoft, our quantum mission is clear: to build a scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computer capable of solving problems that are intractable for classical systems. Achieving this requires more than incremental progress—it demands breakthroughs in physics, engineering, and computer science. Our approach is rooted in topological quantum computing, a paradigm that promises inherent error resilience by encoding information in global properties of matter rather than local states.   Topological quantum computing offers a fundamentally different path to scalability, but realizing its full potential requires innovation across every layer of the stack. One promising direction is measurement-based quantum computing, which leverages adaptive measurements on entangled resource states to implement quantum logic. This approach could simplify control, enhance robustness, and accelerate the path to fault tolerance.   Introducing the 2026 Quantum Research Pioneers Program – Hardware Track To advance this frontier, we are launching the 2026 Quantum Pioneers Program (QuPP). Through this program, we invite leading academic researchers to explore the next generation of measurement-based techniques for topological quantum computing.       Microsoft Quantum Pioneers Program – Hardware Track Contest Official Rules   1. SPONSOR These Official Rules (“Rules”) govern the operation of the Microsoft Quantum Pioneers Program Contest (“Contest”). Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, 98052, USA, is the Contest sponsor (“Sponsor”).      2. DEFINITIONS In these Rules, “Microsoft”, “we”, “our”, and “us” refer to Sponsor and “you” and “yourself” refers to a Contest participant, or the parent/legal guardian of any Contest entrant who has not reached the age of majority to contractually obligate themselves in their legal place of residence. By entering you (your parent/legal guardian if you are not the age of majority in your legal place of residence) agree to be bound by these Rules.     3. ENTRY PERIOD The Contest starts at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on April 13, 2026, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on April 27, 2026 (“Entry Period”). The entry period is divided into two (2) Prize Periods, as follows:    Prize Period Start Date End Date 1 November 1, 2025, at 12:00 a.m. PT January 30, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PT 2 April 13, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. PT April 27, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PT     4. ELIGIBILITY This is a trade Contest open only to students (doctoral students, post-doc students, etc.) and professors (assistant, associate, etc.) at a university or degree-granting research institutions in the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico). Applicants may only serve as principal investigator (“PI”) or co-PI on one (1) proposal submitted to Microsoft as part of the Quantum Pioneers Program each year. There can be a maximum of two (2) PIs per proposal. You must be twenty-one (21) years of age or older to be eligible. 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PLEASE NOTE: If you are a public sector employee (government and education), all prize awards will be awarded directly to your public sector organization and subject to receipt of a gift letter signed by your agency/institution’s ethics officer, attorney, or designated executive/officer responsible for your organization’s gifts/ethics policy. Microsoft seeks to ensure that by offering items of value at no charge in promotional settings it does not create any violation of the letter or spirit of the entrant’s applicable gifts and ethics rules.      5. HOW TO ENTER To create an entry, create a five (5) page written proposal for research related to measurement-based quantum computing that includes:    Exploring at least one (1) of the following subject matter areas:  Novel simulation approaches to topological qubit dynamics  Explorations of novel readout and control techniques and components  Quantum error correction and circuit compilation for measurement-based approaches  Early fault-tolerant and NISQ experiments for measurement based approaches  Measurement-based methods for quantum characterization, verification, and validation (MB-QCVV)  A statement of need describing the specific outstanding challenge that is addressed by the research activity, that is, what the award funding will be used for;  The type and amount of collaboration needed or desired from Microsoft to perform the research activity;  Desired outcome of the research activity with expected impact on the field;  Facilities, materials, equipment, or other support available and/or needed to complete the proposed research; and  A short CV of the Principal Investigators (PI), not to exceed one (1) – tow (2) pages for each PI, should also be included in the proposal.    To submit an entry, send your written proposal by email to QPP@microsoft.com via an email with “ 2026 Quantum Pioneers Program” in the subject line during one of the Prize Periods.    The entry limit is one (1) per person overall. 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WINNER SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION Pending confirmation of eligibility, potential prize winners will be selected by Microsoft, our designated agent, or a qualified judging panel from among all eligible entries received based on the following judging criteria:     33% – Faculty Merit: Faculty is accomplished in research and community engagement.  33% – Research Merit: Faculty’s proposed research is aligned with Microsoft Quantum interests, innovative, and likely to have a significant impact on the field.  33% – Proposal Quality: The research proposal is clear, focused, and well-organized, and it demonstrates the team’s ability to successfully execute the research and achieve a significant impact.    Potential winners will be selected within twenty-one (21) days following the Entry Period from among all eligible entries received. In the event of a tie between any eligible entries, an additional judge will break the tie based on the judging criteria described above. 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PRIZES The following prizes will be awarded:    At least one (1)* Grand Prize. Each winner will receive: A cash prize, to be awarded as a check to the winner’s educational institution (or if to the winner, if the winner is not affiliated with any institution) for the purpose of pursuing the research described in the winner’s submission. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $200,000.00 USD.   *Microsoft may decide, in its sole and absolute discretion, to award up to four (4) additional prizes in the Entry Period for any reason.   PLEASE NOTE: If you are a public sector employee (government and education), your prize will be awarded as a research grant directly to your public sector organization and subject to receipt of a gift letter signed by your agency/institution’s ethics officer, attorney, or designated executive/officer responsible for your organization’s gifts/ethics policy. 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While the documentation (https://aka.ms/qdk) is a great resource to learn in detail about the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (or “the QDK” for short), seeing it in action really helps convey just how simple it is to get started, the breadth of features it includes, and the power of the Q# language for developing quantum code.   With that in mind, the team that builds the QDK has put together a video where Mine Starks will give a brief tour of some of the main features of the QDK.   Enjoy!  

While the documentation (https://aka.ms/qdk) is a great resource to learn in detail about the Microsoft Azure Quantum Development Kit (or “the QDK” for short), seeing it in action really helps convey just how simple it is to get started, the breadth of features it includes, and the power of the Q# language for developing quantum code.   With that in mind, the team that builds the QDK has put together a video where Stefan Wernli will go more in-depth and walk through implementing an error correction algorithm using the quantum-specific Q# programming language included with the QDK.   Enjoy!  

While the documentation (https://aka.ms/qdk) is a great resource to learn in detail about the Microsoft Quantum Development Kit (or “the QDK” for short), seeing it in action really helps convey just how simple it is to get started, the breadth of features it includes, and the power of the Q# language for developing quantum code.   With that in mind, the team that builds the QDK has put together a video where Mine Starks will give a brief tour of some of the main features of the QDK.   Enjoy!