Seeqc’s Oleg Mukhanov, Ph.D., and NY CREATES team to Advance Fluxonium Qubit Fabrication Process for Next-Generation Quantum Computing Systems
ELMSFORD, N.Y. –August 27, 2020– Seeqc, the Digital Quantum Computing company, today announced that it has been selected as one of 23 companies to each receive a $150,000 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Rome, New York.
Seeqc is joined in this first-of-its-kind award by its partner in the project, NY CREATES, a world-leading R&D, innovation hub and commercialization facilitator in advanced digital, analog and power technologies.
Bridging the Gaps Between Academics and Industry
The Air Force awarded Seeqc’s proposal, “Highly Manufacturable Fluxonium Qubits at 300mm Wafer Scale,” which outlines the necessary and repeatable industrial processes needed to manufacture fluxonium qubits. Fluxonium qubits are superconducting qubits that utilize Josephson junctions, have longer quantum coherence and are advantageous for building high fidelity circuits with large numbers of qubits.
In the first phase of the project, Seeqc will develop circuit designs that leverage the superconducting qubit fabrication processes being developed by NY CREATES professionals. The company and NY CREATES will work hand-in-hand during Phase I to establish the design and process parameters required to fabricate fluxonium qubits on 300 mm silicon wafers using state-of-the-art tools at the NY CREATES fab in Albany, NY. Once the team has completed that first phase and demonstrated feasibility, they will proceed with a second phase to demonstrate manufacturability of the qubits at 300mm scale.
NY CREATES professionals have an established history in quantum, and were recently in the news having developed the first ever fully integrated 300mm quantum photonic wafer for AFRL and AIM Photonics, the National Integrated Photonics Manufacturing Initiative.
“There are only a handful of facilities in the world with the capabilities necessary to produce fluxonium qubits, so our partnership with NY CREATES was a natural fit for this project,” said Oleg Mukhanov Ph.D. co-founder and co-CEO of Seeqc. “The AFRL award and ensuing project will serve as a proof-of-concept for our eventual goal of producing fluxonium qubits cost-efficiently and at scale. By nature, these qubits can benefit all quantum applications with improved controllability and fidelity.”
”This STTR partnership is an example of how NY CREATES is engaging with innovative companies such as Seeqc, and with AFRL Rome, to make New York State the natural home for emerging quantum technologies”, said Douglas Grose, Ph.D., President of NY CREATES. “By ensuring that we are at the forefront of emerging technology development, we can plant the seeds for long-term economic development in the decades ahead”, he added.
Advancing Digital Quantum Computing and National Security Initiatives
The Air Force’s $5.25 million quantum collider program is designed to accelerate quantum enabling technologies that will eventually play a pivotal role in national defense. This vital research will support Seeqc’s goal of developing a new approach to making quantum computing useful, via fully digital quantum computing.
Seeqc’s solution combines classical and quantum computing to form an all-digital architecture through a system-on-a-chip design that utilizes 10-40 GHz superconductive classical Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) co-processing to address the efficiency, stability and cost issues endemic to quantum computing systems.
Seeqc recently spun out of HYPRES, Inc., the world’s leading developer of superconductor electronics, to pursue a vision of making quantum computing useful, commercially and at scale.
About Seeqc
Seeqc is developing the first digital quantum computing platform for global businesses. Seeqc combines classical and quantum technologies to address the efficiency, stability and cost issues endemic to quantum computing systems. The company applies classical and quantum
technology through digital readout and control technology and through a unique chip-scale architecture. Seeqc’s quantum system provides the energy- and cost-efficiency, speed and digital control required to make quantum computing useful and bring the first commercially-scalable, problem-specific quantum computing applications to market.
The company is one of the first companies to have built a superconductor multi-layer commercial chip foundry and through this experience has the infrastructure in place for
design, testing and manufacturing of quantum-ready superconductors. Seeqc is a spin-out of Hypres, the world’s leading developer of superconductor electronics. Seeqc’s team of executives and scientists have deep expertise and experience in commercial superconductive computing solutions and quantum computing. Seeqc is based in Elmsford, NY.
About NY CREATES
In 2019, Empire State Development and the State University of New York announced the formation of the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering and Science (NY CREATES).
NY CREATES was formally established in December of 2019 and consolidates the public-private partnerships at the Albany Nanotech facility into a single non-profit affiliate corporation of the Research Foundation of SUNY. NY CREATES is charged with managing a large portfolio of non-academic R&D and economic development-related projects by focusing on strong oversight, management, governance, and delivery of these projects.
Additionally, NY CREATES facilitates global partnerships and research efforts that propel forward industries engaged in nanoelectronics and advanced analog and digital technologies.
Seeqc Contact
Eric Becker
104 West Partners for Seeqc
[email protected]
Kristin Devoe, Empire State Development
[email protected]
(518) 292-5107
Frank Tolic, NY CREATES
[email protected]
(518) 956-7221
