Boston – October 15, 2026 -- QuEra Computing will work as neutral-atom hardware partner on three of the nine teams selected for ARPA-E's Quantum Computing for Computational Chemistry (QC3) program, which directs $37 million across its performers over three years. QuEra scientists serve as co-principal investigators on projects targeting superconductors, high-performance magnets and hydrogen production.
ARPA-E sets a hundredfold target validated at about 100 logical qubits
The Department of Energy announced QC3 in March 2026. The program aims to close the gap between vendor roadmaps, which are moving toward expanded logical-qubit capability by the end of the decade, and the resources that published energy-chemistry algorithms require.
ARPA-E's premise is that full-stack co-design closes that gap: gains of two to three times at each layer compound into an order of magnitude overall. Teams must identify an application worth a quadrillion BTU of energy or a gigaton of CO2-equivalent. They must also pursue a scalable hundredfold improvement over classical state of the art, validated at approximately 100 logical qubits. QuEra's updated roadmap targets 1,000 logical qubits by 2029.
Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore and Phasecraft lead the three QuEra-backed projects
SuperKIQ, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, applies Krylov-inspired quantum algorithms to the search for high-temperature superconductors. It co-designs algorithms and error-correction protocols for hardware with reconfigurable connectivity. Team members include NASA Ames, the University of Southern California, Michigan State University, Citrine Informatics and Azulene Labs.
MAGNETIQC, led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, uses quantum and machine-learning-accelerated software to discover ultra-strong, lightweight magnets for electric motors, generators and high-performance information technology. Columbia University, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center Application Technology Group and Citrine Informatics are on the team.
The Quantum Computing for Hydrogen Fuel Production project, led by Phasecraft, develops optimized algorithms for simulating electrolysis. Its primary objective is to reduce reliance on iridium, a critical mineral, in hydrogen production. Johnson Matthey and Harvard University are also involved.
Hardware choice was a gating requirement for QC3 applicants
Every QC3 applicant had to submit a letter of intent from a quantum hardware provider. Five of the nine selected prime teams are hardware companies running their own machines. QuEra is the external hardware partner for three of the remaining four projects.
QuEra's Shengtao Wang, VP of Algorithms and Applications, said the architecture and software stack let researchers co-design error correction and fault-tolerant applications with the hardware itself. Neutral atoms are identical, laser-controlled and reconfigurable, which gives high connectivity, a core lever for algorithm development and error-correction implementation.
Los Alamos collaboration cut qubit needs by half in June 2026 paper
With Los Alamos National Laboratory, QuEra published a transversal STAR architecture in PRX Quantum in June 2026. For structured quantum simulation, it delivers up to 250 times faster execution and roughly half the physical qubits of conventional fault-tolerant approaches. A separate 2025 Nature paper on algorithmic fault tolerance reduced runtime overhead by 10 to 100 times for reconfigurable architectures.
Stefan Ostermann, Director of Quantum Applications at QuEra, said the earliest quantum advantage will come from "co-design across the entire application stack." The QC3 program director is Dr. Jyotsna Sharma.