Germany allocated 100 million euros for the construction of quantum computers

Yesterday, the German Federal Ministry of education and research announced two quantum computing funding projects, totaling nearly 100 million euros. They are the qsolid (solid-state quantum computer) project led by Forschungszentrum J ü Lich: a total of 76.3 million euros will be allocated over five years to develop the next generation superconducting quantum processor; Spinning (diamond-based spin photon quantum computer) project led by Fraunhofer IAF: a total of 16.1 million euros has been allocated over three years to develop a compact and scalable quantum processor – diamond-based spin quantum bits.

Building a complete quantum computer based on cutting-edge German technology is the goal of the QSolid collaborative project, which has just started and to which the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has allocated € 76.3 million in funding for the next five years. The project centers on quantum bits—or qubits for short—of very high quality, i.e., low error rate. The quantum computer will be integrated into Forschungszentrum Jülich's supercomputing infrastructure at an early stage and will contain several next-generation superconducting quantum processors, including a "moonshot" system that has been proven to exceed the computing power of conventional computers. The first demonstrator will go into operation in mid-2024 and will make it possible to test applications as well as benchmarks for industry standards.

Yulish Research Center believes that this technology is still in its infancy. Although developing usable quantum computers faces great challenges, it also provides an opportunity to formulate industry standards and protect intellectual property rights from the beginning.

"Our focus is on improving the quality of the quantum bits, a goal we are pursuing on all levels in QSolid," says Prof. Frank Wilhelm-Mauch from Forschungszentrum Jülich. Qubits' susceptibility to errors is a sticking point in the development of quantum computers. The quantum states used to store quantum information respond extremely sensitively to external influences. They are often disrupted before all computing operations have been completed.

"The optimizations we have in mind start with next-generation superconducting circuits with a particularly low error rate, which we plan to achieve using high-precision manufacturing methods and new material systems, for example. Other essential elements include optimal control of the qubits as well as state-of-the-art error avoidance methods based on artificial intelligence (AI) on a firmware level, an area in which QSolid aims to set new standards," explains Wilhelm-Mauch.

To pave the way for commercialization, 25 leading German companies and research institutions have joined forces in the collaborative project QSolid. The research consortium coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich is the largest of its kind in Germany. Together, the project partners aim to develop a comprehensive ecosystem for a demonstrator based on superconducting qubits, which will be made accessible to external users via the Jülich Unified Infrastructure for Quantum computing (JUNIQ) and tailored to their individual needs.

The spinning project led by Fraunhofer IAF also focuses on qubit quality. Compared with today's quantum computers, the planned hardware has a longer operation time, lower error rate, and lower cooling requirements.

This "made in Germany" quantum processor can be connected to classical computers for the use of users. According to the plan, the quantum processor can initially calculate with 10 qubits and then calculate with 100 or more qubits.

28 German companies and research institutions participated in the project. Quantum brilliance, a German Australian manufacturer of quantum computing hardware, will provide information on the economy of developing the system and the wide range of practical applications that benefit from its development. At present, quantum brilliance has developed a compact diamond quantum computer with 5 qubits.

Research institution network and supply chain

To achieve the ambitious goal of manufacturing independent quantum computers in Germany, qsolid is bringing together research institutions, companies, and start-ups across the country. Seven branches of the Peter gr ü nberg Institute in Ulrich contributed their expertise to the project; The Ulrich Supercomputing Center (JSC), the Institute of engineering, electronics and analysis of the Ulrich Research Center (zea-2), and qruise (a branch of the Ulrich Research Center) also undertake many important tasks. Other research partners contributing valuable expertise include Fraunhofer IPMS and Fraunhofer izm-assid and other research institutions and universities.

In addition, many manufacturers and start-ups are involved in the establishment of national development and supply chains. Quantum computing companies parityqc, HQs, IQM and suppliers including ATOS, lattice core, and Zurich instruments participated as project partners, committed to developing the first industry-standard and developing the potential of the technology at an early stage.

Achieve the first system by 2024

Leibniz IPHT is producing the prototype of qsolid, which is expected to be put into use in 2024. As part of the qsolid project, IPHT has established a superconducting circuit production line and will transform it to create a superconducting quantum circuit test line.

In developing its superconducting quantum architecture, QSolid can draw on the experience of several experts including Prof. Rami Barends, who moved from Google's research team to Forschungszentrum Jülich last autumn. The next-generation quantum processors will mainly be manufactured in the Helmholtz Nano Facility at Forschungszentrum Jülich. This 1,000-square-metre cleanroom complex run by the Helmholtz Association is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for the production and characterization of quantum components. By 2025, an additional facility will be built in the form of the Helmholtz Quantum Center (HQC), a specially designed laboratory infrastructure for quantum computing.

Important preliminary work to help achieve the project goals has already been carried out. Results from the European flagship project OpenSuperQ and the collaborative projects DAQC and GeQcos, which were launched in 2021, will be incorporated into QSolid's activities.

Link:

[1]https://sciencex.com/wire-news/408290216/qsolid-paving-the-way-for-the-first-german-quantum-computer.html

[2]https://www.iaf.fraunhofer.de/en/media-library/press-releases/using-diamond-to-realize-hybrid-quantum-processor.html