IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) has released technical papers demonstrating 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, the first reported instance of a quantum computing company crossing the “four-nines” benchmark. This performance metric, which measures the accuracy of quantum operations, surpassed the previous record of 99.97% set in 2024. The achievement advances IonQ’s roadmap toward fault-tolerant quantum computing by reducing the overhead required for error correction.
The result was achieved on a prototype in IonQ’s R&D labs and is credited to the company’s proprietary Electronic Qubit Control (EQC) technology, which was acquired through the merger with Oxford Ionics. EQC utilizes precision electronics instead of lasers to control its trapped-ion qubits. By integrating all qubit-control components onto classical semiconductor chips, the company is positioning its systems for manufacturing via existing semiconductor fabrication.
The enhanced fidelity is intended to accelerate the company’s path to large-scale fault-tolerant systems. IonQ estimates that the resulting performance increase would yield a 1010× performance gain over a system with 99.9% fidelity. The technology demonstrated in the R&D labs will form the basis for IonQ’s 256-qubit systems, which are scheduled for demonstration in 2026.
Dr. Chris Ballance, co-founder of Oxford Ionics (now an IonQ company), noted that exceeding the 99.99% threshold on chips built in standard semiconductor fabs sets a clear path toward scaling to millions of qubits. The higher native gate fidelity is positioned to allow customers to run more complex algorithms and reduce time to market due to fewer errors per operation.
Read the full announcement here.
October 21, 2025
