IBM has made two significant steps closer to building a quantum computer, the next evolution in computing that will allow the user, among other things, to design new materials and drug compounds without the expensive trial-and-error experiments in the lab.

“We are at the stage of figuring out the building blocks of quantum computers — a new paradigm of computing completely different than how computers are built today,”  an IBM official told InformationWeek. “In the arc of quantum computing progress, we are at the moment of time similar to when scientists were building the first transistor.”

The breakthroughs are the ability to detect and measure both kinds of quantum errors simultaneously and a new kind of circuit design the technology giant calls “the only physical architecture that could successfully scale to larger dimensions,” as described in the April 29 issue of Nature Communications

The quantum bit circuit, based on a square lattice of four superconducting “qubits” — short for quantum bits — on a chip roughly one-quarter-inch square, enables both types of quantum errors to be detected at the same time.

Jerry M. Chow, manager of the Experimental Quantum Computing group at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center told InformationWeek that one area they are excited about is the potential for quantum computers to simulate systems in nature.

“In physics and chemistry, quantum computing will allow us to design new materials and drug compounds without the expensive trial-and-error experiments in the lab, dramatically speeding up the rate and pace of innovation,” Chow said.

The qubits could be designed and manufactured using standard silicon fabrication techniques, once a handful of superconducting qubits can be manufactured quickly and reliably, and boast low error-rates.

“Quantum information is very fragile, requiring the quantum elements to be cooled to near absolute zero temperature and shielded from its environment to minimize errors,” Chow told InformationWeek.