Quantum/Machines/Quantinuum Helios
USA · operational · Trapped ions
Quantinuum Helios
Quantinuum Helios is a trapped ions quantum computer operated by Quantinuum in USA. It has 98 physical qubits. It ranks 3 of 15 trapped ion machines in this table by physical qubit count. 12 sourced specs are in the spec sheet. 5 published benchmark or milestone records are listed below, each marked by who measured it.
Deep dive: Quantinuum Helios: what the claims support
Also known as Helios
Third-generation Quantinuum system, launched commercially on 2025-11-05 with 98 physical qubits and a switch from ytterbium to barium ions. Offered through Quantinuum cloud and as an on-premises product. Singapore is announced as the first overseas on-premises host with installation expected in 2026, which this record does not cover. The physical site of the cloud unit is not stated in the pages consulted.
Spec sheet
Technical details as the builder or a paper states them, each with its own source. A blank is a fact we could not source, not a zero. Fidelity and coherence figures are in the benchmark table below.
| Spec | Value | Basis | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Helios QPU, junction-based QCCD surface trap with 1,228 electrodes | Peer reviewed | Helios paper Table I lists 1228 electrodes and 273 signals; Systems Reference calls the trap shape a tuning fork. | arxiv.orgdocs.quantinuum.com |
| Qubit type | 137Ba+ hyperfine qubits with 171Yb+ sympathetic coolant ions | Vendor reported | Helios switched from ytterbium to barium qubits; docs name 171Yb+ as the coolant ion. | docs.quantinuum.comdocs.quantinuum.com |
| Topology | QCCD with ring storage, X-junction and 8 operation zones, all-to-all connectivity by ion transport | Peer reviewed | Data sheet lists 4 two-qubit logic zones; the paper describes batches of up to 16 qubits processed in 8 zones. | arxiv.orgdocs.quantinuum.com |
| Native gates | Rxy (phased_x), virtual Rz, ZZ max, parameterized-angle ZZ | Vendor reported | Circuits are rebased to ZZ and parameterized ZZ by default. | docs.quantinuum.comdocs.quantinuum.com |
| Two-qubit gate time | 70,000 ns | Peer reviewed | Helios paper states the two-qubit gate itself takes approximately 70 us; cooling and transport time are separate. | arxiv.org |
| Cooling and environment | Laser cooling including ground-state cooling in the operation zones, plus sympathetic 171Yb+ coolant ions | Peer reviewed | Each of the 8 operation zones can perform ground-state laser cooling; no cryogenic stage is described. | arxiv.orgdocs.quantinuum.com |
| Software | Guppy, TKET, Nexus, NVIDIA CUDA-Q, QIR | Vendor reported | Vendor launch material names Guppy with a real-time engine, compatibility with QIR and CUDA-Q, and NVIDIA GB200 integration. | quantinuum.comquantinuum.com |
| Cloud platforms | Quantinuum cloud service (Nexus) | Vendor reported | Launch release states cloud and on-premise availability; Azure Quantum lists only H2 targets in its Quantinuum provider page. | quantinuum.comdocs.quantinuum.com |
| Access and pricing | Quantinuum cloud service, on-premises deployment, or both (Hardware-as-a-Service) | Vendor reported | On-premises option includes integration with NVIDIA GB200; no price is published. | quantinuum.comquantinuum.com |
| Predecessor | Quantinuum H2 | Vendor reported | Launch blog calls H2 the predecessor; 2024 roadmap described Helios as roughly twice the qubits of H2. | quantinuum.comquantinuum.com |
| Successor | Quantinuum Sol | Vendor reported | Sol was announced on 2024-09-17 as the first commercial 2D-grid system with hundreds of physical qubits, after Helios. | quantinuum.com |
| Roadmap | Helix error-correction architecture demonstrated on Helios is the stated path to Apollo | Vendor reported | Quantinuum said on 2026-09-08 that Helix on Helios provides a foundation for Apollo. | quantinuum.com |
Published benchmark figures
These are numbers the builder or a paper reports for this machine, not results from a common test. The basis column says who measured them. What the metrics mean and why they are not comparable across technologies.
| Metric | Value | Measured | Basis | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-qubit gate fidelity | 99.9975% | 2025-11-05 | Vendor reported | 99.9975 percent single-qubit gate fidelity, Quantinuum launch claim | quantinuum.comquantinuum.com |
| Two-qubit gate fidelity | 99.921% | 2025-11-05 | Vendor reported | 99.921 percent across all qubit pairs, Quantinuum launch claim | quantinuum.comquantinuum.com |
Milestone claims
- Quantinuum: Helix QEC architecture on Helios, 4.6e-5 logical error per qubit per round with no post-selection, claimed as a record; not independently checked (2026-09-08, vendor reported) quantinuum.com
- Quantinuum claimed 48 error-corrected logical qubits at 2:1 encoding, and 94 error-detected logical qubits globally entangled (2025-11-05, vendor reported) quantinuum.comquantinuum.com
- Quantinuum reports random circuit sampling fidelity on Helios and says classical simulation would need more power than all visible stars; the post gives no figures (2025-11-05, vendor reported) quantinuum.com
Timeline
- 2025-11: First operational
- 2026-10: Status checked: operational
More from Quantinuum
- Quantinuum H1 (upgraded, 20 qubits)
- Quantinuum H2 (upgraded, 56 qubits)
- Quantinuum Apollo (planned)
Comparable trapped ion machines
Closest in physical qubit count within the same technology. Counts of different qubit types are not interchangeable across technologies.
| Machine | Operator | Qubits | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| IonQ Tempo | IonQ | 100 | operational |
| Quantinuum H2 | Quantinuum | 56 | upgraded |
| IonQ Superion 256 | IonQ | 256 | under construction |
| IonQ Forte | IonQ | 36 | operational |
| IonQ Forte Enterprise at EPB | EPB | 36 | operational |
| IonQ Forte Enterprise at QuantumBasel | QuantumBasel | 36 | operational |