Why Taiwan's semiconductor advantage won't help it develop quantum computers
2022 promises to be a breakthrough year for quantum computer hardware. But while half of the world's chips are made in Taiwan, it's ironic that Taiwan is far behind its rivals in quantum technology.
In the first half of 2022, a series of new breakthroughs in quantum technology have been announced, while more applications are being commercialized. In Taiwan, progress in quantum hardware has been hampered by a lack of manufacturing equipment and experience in the academic community. But the question is, why didn't experts from Taiwan's semiconductor industry come to help? The dilemma facing the "Taiwan Quantum Team" is that manufacturers are too busy fulfilling orders to help make quantum hardware devices.
If the competition of quantum computers is the "world science and technology war" described by Zhang Qingrui, a quantum expert, IEEE, and a researcher of the American Physical Society, then the current situation of the "Taiwan quantum team" is almost a war with bare hands. "If Taiwan's quantum hardware is not realized first, I fear the gap will grow," said Albert Lin, executive supervisor of the Taiwan Association for Quantum Computing and Information Technology (TAQCIT).
Albert Lin
"We haven't found semiconductor manufacturers who are interested in assisting the production process," said Guan Xisheng, a professor in the Department of Physics at National Taiwan University. "They may be running at full capacity right now to fulfill their orders. Who would want to set aside some capacity specifically for Develop quantum chips? That's a real dilemma."
Guan Xisheng
Guan Xisheng said: "The most important significance of Intel's latest technological breakthrough in quantum is that they have successfully fabricated a large number of silicon qubit devices using advanced process technology. The device is usually fabricated on a small piece by electron beam lithography. Yes, but they use 12-inch silicon wafers to make them through DUV lithography, which is consistent with the current semiconductor process equipment and technology." Guan explained, "The significance is to use the existing process equipment and technology in silicon Fabricating qubits on a wafer could be scalable."
Intel has invested in developing semiconductor quantum dots, qubits, and quantum control chips, and has begun developing large-scale cryogenic automated testing tools. This shows Intel's intention to further develop its business in quantum computer manufacturing.
"If qubits can also work at 4K, then qubit chips can be combined with low-temperature CMOS control circuit chips to simplify the complex wiring problems of mutual wiring and readout of quantum states." Guan said: "Quantum dots have been demonstrated Can operate at 4K, so qubits made using semiconductors will have the opportunity to operate at 4K as well.”
“Intel is investing so much in developing quantum technology, which shows that they see opportunity in the future, depending on the vision and positioning of their company leaders. Intel is currently doing simple qubit manufacturing with a yield rate of 95%; But when it becomes more complex in the future, it will be difficult to maintain yield. So Taiwanese semiconductor companies, such as TSMC, are well suited for this task," Guan added.
Now Intel has a first-mover advantage over TSMC in quantum technology. How it will play quantum leverage over the competition remains to be seen.
Numerous hardware breakthroughs have been announced since the first quarter of 2022. GlobalFoundries announced a new generation of silicon photonics solutions in March, providing a manufacturing platform for optical transceiver modules, AI chips and quantum computing; Intel and QuTech announced in April that qubits were successfully mass-produced in a semiconductor factory with a yield rate of 95 %; Stanford University uses phonon-entangled micro-mechanical oscillators to advance research in quantum computing and sensing applications; IonQ also introduces the IonQ Forte, a new-generation quantum computer with 32 qubits whose architecture is powered by software Algorithmic control to improve performance.
Quantum technology has also made new progress in the field of software. Nanoacademic Technologies (Canada) and Origin Quantum (China) have separately released electronic design automation (EDA) software for quantum chips - Quantum EDA is expected to help smooth out many of the existing bottlenecks in quantum chip production.
Academia and startups in China, the US and Europe, which are early starters in quantum technology, are also expected to expand their lead, with the support of local hardware makers. Taiwan is struggling to make quantum dots, qubits, control boards and modulation of photonic qubits, according to people familiar with the matter. As a result, the overall progress of R&D is in limbo.
But the world's semiconductor production capacity is very tight. How can foreign quantum innovation and scientific research institutions overcome this problem? “For startups like PsiQuantu and IonQ, venture capitalists are very well-funded. From the capital market, they place orders with semiconductor companies and get hardware production. Currently, Taiwan lacks a clear industrial policy to plan for future development. Maybe the government should at least fund research teams and pay for foundry services in case requests for capital help fail," said Albert Lin.
GlobalFoundries is working with PsiQuantum on photonic quantum projects, Intel is working with QuTech, and IonQ has investment from Germany's Bosch Group (Bosch also has a fab).
In March 2022, Taiwan announced the establishment of a "quantum team" that will invest NT$8 billion ($270 million) over five years. The team has formulated 17 sub-projects with 24 industry players: including MediaTek, Chunghwa Telecom, Foxconn, Lianya Optoelectronics, Taiwan Fujitsu, etc., focusing on three main directions: such as quantum computer hardware technology, optical quantum technology and quantum computer software technology.
"Taiwan Quantum Team" press conference. Source: DIGITIMES
While collaboration between academia, research institutions and technology companies is to be expected, industry participation is lackluster due to a lack of commercial incentives.
The market size of quantum computing is still in its infancy, which may be the reason why Taiwanese foundries are not currently interested. As of 2020, quantum computing is only worth $90 million, but it is expected to reach $667 million by 2027, according to Research Dive. While Foxconn has shown interest and participated in the "Taiwan Quantum Team," it does not yet have a technologically mature factory.
Guan Xisheng said that the research team at National Taiwan University has proposed a control scheme for high-fidelity quantum logic gates, but the academic community lacks the equipment and experience to manufacture quantum hardware devices for proof-of-concept. Manufacturing assistance from the semiconductor industry to accelerate the development and testing of other devices is a priority. "If qubits can be fabricated with semiconductor materials and equipment, as the latest results from Intel and QuTech show, Taiwan's semiconductor industry should have a good niche."
“In the next 5-10 years, every platform will definitely compete to see who can build a million qubits first. Only then will we be able to achieve a commercially viable quantum computer: error-correcting and reliable high-speed computing ," said Albert Lin.
Tube emphasizes that low temperature and bulk are important limiting factors for quantum technology. "With the current development of quantum algorithms, quantum computers will not completely replace all the work and calculations of traditional computers. Each country may only need a few to complete large-scale, complex, and reliable quantum computing, even if it requires a football field-sized quantum computer. Space isn't a problem either."
The key to the promotion and application of quantum computing lies in the creation of stable, error-correcting, high-performance quantum computer hardware devices and software, as well as the active research and development of various industries in society, and the use of quantum computing for computational simulation and commercial applications.
"We're going to see hybrid machines that integrate quantum computers with classical supercomputers, which is a direction that many believe is more feasible in the near future and requires more effort. The commercialization of quantum computers and their integration with classical computers The integration of Taiwan's economy will be highly related to the semiconductor and information communication industries on which Taiwan's economy depends, and may even create new industrial and economic value," said Albert Lin.
Reference link:
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20220526VL200/quantum-computer-taiwan.html
