Yahoo Finance Diraq, GlobalFoundries to Make Quantum Chips With Standard Tools
(Bloomberg) -- GlobalFoundries Inc. will produce a sample of startup Diraq Pty’s chip equipped with both quantum and classical processors this month, the latest attempt to make quantum computers practical in the real world.
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The contract manufacturer will use standard equipment and materials to make Sydney-based Diraq’s chip, which has a quantum processor designed to operate at 99.9% accuracy at 1 Kelvin (-272.15C), alongside classical transistors that can operate at such temperatures. European research consortium Imec helped develop the commercial manufacturing process for the quantum processor.
Most quantum processors need to be stored inside a cryogenic chamber at temperatures close to absolute zero to reduce movement, with wires connecting them to computers operating at room temperature. If both quantum and classic components are on the same sliver of silicon, however, that eliminates the lag time between the two, making it easier to control the quantum processor and correct errors.
The transistors are the same as those used in mobile phones and are manufactured on mature 22-nanometer production lines, helping to lower costs, according to Andrew Dzurak, chief executive officer of Diraq, a two-year-old startup that has so far raised $135 million, including research funding from the Australian and US governments.
“Just as modern chipmaking allows millions of transistors to be crammed onto a regular chip, we can get millions of qubits on a quantum chip,” Dzurak said in an interview about the road ahead. “Quantum computing can be made much cheaper and more accessible than competing qubit technologies.” A qubit is the basic unit for quantum information.
Still, Diraq faces formidable engineering challenges. In theory, quantum computing promises calculations that are millions of times faster than the most powerful supercomputers today. But despite billions of dollars of investments by governments, large companies and startups, it’s still an open question whether engineers will ever develop a commercially-useful quantum computer.
If production on 300-millimeter wafer technology goes as planned, Diraq aims to scale up and make a complete quantum computing system with both hardware and software by 2028. The goal is to perform calculations too difficult for existing supercomputers in fields such as the development of new medicines, carbon-capturing materials, energy-efficient chemical catalysts or stronger engineering materials, according to Dzurak, who is also a professor of quantum engineering at UNSW Sydney.
There are many different approaches to building quantum processors. Alphabet Inc.’s Google and IBM Corp. have built quantum computers based on superconducting qubits. In contrast, Diraq uses the direction of an electron’s rotation to encode information, with the electrons trapped in a modified transistor at very low temperatures.
The collaboration between Diraq and GlobalFoundries is through the GF Labs division, which focuses on topical research unlikely to generate revenue over the short term, according to Ted Letavic who leads the division.
Australia is home to several quantum computing companies such as Silicon Quantum Computing Pty, Q-Ctrl Pty and Quantum Brilliance Pty, thanks to bigger government support in recent years.
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