Trapped Ion

IonQ

All-to-all connectivity. Commercial trapped-ion quantum computing with industry-leading algorithmic qubit performance.

About IonQ

Trapped ions, trapped in nothing else

IonQ was founded in 2015 by Christopher Monroe and Jungsang Kim, both leading researchers in trapped-ion quantum information at the University of Maryland and Duke University. The company went public in 2021, becoming the first pure-play quantum computing company listed on the NYSE.

IonQ uses Ytterbium-171 ions suspended in a Paul trap using oscillating electric fields. Each ion is an identical copy of every other: unlike superconducting qubits, which are fabricated and vary in frequency, every IonQ qubit is a single atom with precisely known quantum states. Laser pulses drive transitions between the ground state |0> and the excited state |1>. Two-qubit gates exploit the shared motional modes of the ion chain, which means any two qubits can interact directly without routing through intermediate qubits.

IonQ introduced the algorithmic qubit (#AQ) metric to quantify the useful computational capacity of a quantum processor, accounting for both qubit count and gate fidelity. A system with #AQ N can reliably run a random circuit of depth N using N qubits. This is more useful than raw qubit count alone.

Hardware Specifications

System specs at a glance

Specification Value
Current systems IonQ Aria, IonQ Forte
Algorithmic qubits (#AQ) #AQ 25 (Aria), #AQ 35+ (Forte)
Two-qubit gate fidelity 99.5%+
Qubit technology Ytterbium trapped ions
Connectivity All-to-all (any qubit pair)
Coherence time Seconds to minutes
Gate time (2Q) ~100–600 microseconds
Cloud access AWS Braket, Azure Quantum, Google Cloud, IonQ Cloud
Supported SDKs Qiskit, Cirq, Amazon Braket SDK, Q#, PennyLane

Use Cases

Where IonQ hardware excels

Getting Started

Run your first circuit on IonQ

  1. Create an AWS account (easiest path)

    The fastest way to access IonQ hardware is via Amazon Braket. Create a free AWS account at aws.amazon.com. New accounts receive AWS Free Tier credits. Braket simulators are free within the first hour per month.

  2. Install the Amazon Braket SDK

    pip install amazon-braket-sdk

    The SDK supports Python 3.9+. Set your AWS credentials via aws configure or environment variables. See the Braket reference for full setup details.

  3. Write and submit your first circuit

    from braket.aws import AwsDevice
from braket.circuits import Circuit

device = AwsDevice("arn:aws:braket:us-east-1::device/qpu/ionq/Aria-1")

bell = Circuit().h(0).cnot(0, 1)
task = device.run(bell, shots=100)
print(task.result().measurement_counts)

    This creates a Bell state and runs it on IonQ Aria. With all-to-all connectivity, the CNOT compiles directly with no SWAP insertions needed.

  4. Use Cirq for Google Cloud access

    If you prefer Cirq or Google Cloud, install cirq-ionq and authenticate with Google Cloud credentials. IonQ is also available as a Cirq backend directly. See the Cirq reference and the Cirq hello world tutorial. 

    pip install cirq-ionq

  5. Apply for research credits

    Academic researchers and students can apply for free QPU time via the IonQ Research Program. Credits are awarded based on research merit and typically provide direct access to IonQ Forte.

Pricing

Access costs across providers

IonQ hardware is available through multiple cloud providers, each with different pricing models. Costs are incurred per shot (measurement) and sometimes per task (job submission).

Learning Resources

Tutorials and reference docs