Insider Brief
- Q-PLANET, a €50 million European Quantum Chip Stability Pilot Line coordinated by Pasqal, has begun its work to advance industrial-grade components for neutral atom quantum technologies.
- The €50 million initiative brings together 28 organizations across 11 EU Member States to develop scalable manufacturing processes for quantum components.
- The project will focus on producing and testing components including lasers, atom chips, and microfabricated vapor cells while establishing standards for industrial quantum production.
Press release – Last two days marked the official kick-off of Q-PLANET (Quantum Pilot Line for production of Advanced chips for Neutral atom European Technologies), one of the 6 European Quantum Chip Stability Pilot Lines co-founded by the European Union and the Chips Joint Undertaking and National and Regional Authorities of the participating Member States.
Coordinated by Pasqal, a global leader in neutral atom quantum computing, the consortium brings together 28 European RTOs, industry partners, and academic research groups across 11 EU Member States, with the goal of strengthening Europe’s leadership and resilience in the quantum supply chain. Q-PLANET has a total budget of €50 million. Structured under a six-year Framework Partnership Agreement with the European Chips Joint Undertaking, the initial three-year phase kicked off on July 8-9th. A second three-year stage is expected to follow to notably boost user uptake of the services and products developed under the first three years of the Pilot line as well as to keep increasing the industrial maturity of the technologies developed under it.
Quantum technologies have become a highly strategic domain with economic and societal value to users rising sharply. Applications span quantum computing for drug and materials discovery, quantum sensing for navigation, timing and earth observation, and quantum communication for highly secure networks.
However, as highlighted by the European Quantum Strategy, unlocking the full potential of quantum technologies requires achieving industrialization at scale by 2030. Today, industrialization at scale is held back by a lack of scalable and replicable manufacturing processes hampering mass production, systematic standardized design, calibration, control and testing frameworks; and energy efficiency monitoring assessment in the production cycle of quantum technologies. Addressing these gaps are some of Q-PLANET’s priorities.
The six complementary Quantum Chip Stability Pilot Lines launched under Chips JU, each focused on a distinct hardware, collectively working to advance quantum technologies industrialization across computing, communications and sensing. Within this portfolio, Q-PLANET is the dedicated pilot line for neutral atom quantum technology. It will design, fabricate, assemble and test industrial-grade chip-based components, including process and design optimization to establish a robust foundation for scalable, replicable, and high-performing chip-based components including on-laser chips. This will be key to improve miniaturization, scalability, technological performance, cost effectiveness, large-scale industrial deployment, boost users’ adoption while improving the coherence properties that determine quantum performance.
In its first three-year phase, Q-PLANET will advance a set of critical components: lasers at four key wavelengths (461 nm, 698 nm, 795 nm and 1013 nm), atom chips for quantum sensing and computing, and microfabricated vapor cells for atomic clocks and field sensors. These components are expected to progress from TRL 4 to TRL 6 over three iterative design, fabrication and test cycles. Q-PLANET will also establish a route from laboratory to industrial fabrication with the establishment of standardized Process Design Kits (PDKs) and Assembly Design Kits (ADKs), which will lower entry barriers for startups and SMEs and lay the foundation for companies to build quantum know-how.
“The Chips JU currently supports a portfolio of actions that will develop quantum functionalities based on six technological platforms ranging from superconducting and photonic approaches to the neutral atom technology that is the focus of the Q-PLANET project. This diverse project portfolio strengthens Europe’s technological sovereignty in quantum technology and builds the foundations of a new industry.”
— said, Jari KINARET, Chips Joint Undertaking, Executive Director.
“Q-PLANET is a decisive step toward the EU’s 2030 quantum ambitions. By pooling scientific and industrial expertise across Europe, we are building a pan-European quantum-chip manufacturing backbone based on neutral atom technologies, from products to applications. Q-PLANET will contribute to accelerating quantum industrialization at scale, strengthen Europe’s quantum-chip supply chain resilience, and help ensure breakthrough technologies reach the market, while ensuring a limited low environmental footprint.”
— said, Alexandra PAUL, Pasqal, Q-PLANET Coordinator.
