Newswise — With its acquisition of an on-site 20-qubit IQM Radiance quantum computer, the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has taken another major stride forward in its research efforts to integrate quantum computing technology with classical high-performance computing (HPC). The new system, named Pathfinder, was launched June 16 in the Quantum Computer Deployment Lab at ORNL’s Translational Research Capability (TRC) building. “By adding Pathfinder to the array of cutting-edge systems available to our computational scientists, ORNL deepens its commitment to making the U.S. a leader in quantum science and technology,” said ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer. The IQM system was procured through the Institutional Capital Equipment program. Founded in 2018, Finland-based IQM Quantum Computers is a leading commercial builder of full-stack quantum computers. “ORNL has been at the frontier of American science for decades. Bringing IQM’s first-ever U.S. on-premises quantum computer here represents a significant milestone for us as we continue to expand our global footprint and put quantum capability into the hands of world-class institutions that can advance quantum adoption,” said Jan Goetz, CEO and Co-founder, IQM Quantum Computers. In addition to Quoll, the 6-qubit Quantum Brilliance cluster installed at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) last September, Pathfinder will enable researchers at ORNL’s Quantum Science Center (QSC) to develop new applications, algorithms and architectures by using the more powerful quantum-centric HPC (QHPC) paradigm. As a member of the QSC, IQM is supporting the center’s mission to build the next generation of quantum computing. Meanwhile, ORNL researchers, in multiple divisions that span the quantum sciences and technology, will accelerate their work to establish a hardware-agnostic software architecture for merging the capabilities of two very different computing technologies. “On-premises systems enable us to demonstrate quantum computing concepts that realize our goal of building a scalable, hybrid HPC ecosystem,”