The rise of quantum technology has opened the eyes of the ICT industry with respect to cryogenics. It is considered an enabler bringing in quantum functionalities and enhanced system performance and we are observing a massive growth of cryogenics from coolers to cryogenic electronics and photonics. ArCTIC is a joint effort of top European RTOs, industrial fabrication facilities, and leading application partners (23 industrial among which 14 SMEs, 7 RTO, 6 academic), sharing the vision to take a joint EU step towards the era of cryogenic classical and quantum microsystems. We aim to close the gap between qubit research and interfacing control machinery, highly needed for scaled-up quantum systems. The main goal of ArCTIC is to develop scalable cryogenic ICT microsystems and control technology for quantum processors. The technologies developed will have applications in many fields from sensing to communication, leading to important cross-fertilization that will strengthen the forming European ecosystem on cryogenic classical and quantum microsystems. ArCTIC will advance semiconductor technologies and materials, and tailor these for QT requirements and cryogenic applications. Multi-scale physics and data-driven models, cryogenic PDK modelling, device characterization, circuit design activities will support the development of cryogenic microelectronics. We will develop quantum processor platforms and broaden the applicability of microelectronic devices and circuits for cryogenic operation by developing cryo-compatible ultra-low loss substrates and thin-films, microelectronic and photonic circuits, semiconductor packaging and heterogeneous-integration techniques and benchmark the developed technologies. Scientific and Industrial ArCTIC-demonstrators and applications are driving our developments enabling the European industry to maintain and expand its leading edge in semiconductor components and processes and QT and strengthen sustainable manufacturing technologies

The Qu-Pilot SGA proposal consists of 21 partners from 9 different countries aiming to develop and provide access to the first, federated European fabrication (production) capabilities for quantum technologies, building on and linking together existing infrastructures in Europe. Qu-Pilot will implement the first stage of the capability innovation roadmap for providing experimental (pilot) production capabilities and a roadmap for transferring such capabilities to an industrial production environment, as was proposed in the awarded FPA. It will provide experimental production capabilities for quantum technologies in computing, communication and /or sensing through 13 service-provider organizations available to users, including industry, in particular SMEs and contribute to developing European standards in the field. Qu-Pilot will provide services for the development of a European supply chain of quantum technologies, provide European industry, especially start-ups and SMEs, with the necessary innovation capacity, and make sure that critical IP remains within the EU. The initial service offering will be validated through use-cases with companies within the SGA. A minimum of 20 such use-cases are expected and of those 11 are already part of this Qu-Pilot SGA proposal. The competence development, industrial use-cases and ecosystem building – all the activities identified and set out in the FPA will have first set of implementation through this first SGA.

Over the past 60+ years CMOS-based digital computing has giving rise to ever-greater computational performance, „big data“-based business models and the accelerating digital transformation of modern economies. However, the ever-growing amounts of data to be handled and the increasing complexity of today’s tasks for high performance computing (HPC) are becoming unmanageable as the data handling and energy consumption of HPCs, server farms and cloud services grow to unsustainable levels. New concepts and technologies are needed. One such HPC technology is Quantum computing (QC). QC utilizes so-called quantum bits (qubits) to perform complex calculations fundamentally much faster than a conventional digital-bit computers can. First quantum computer prototypes have been created. Superconducting Josephson junctions (SJJs) have been shown to be extremely promising qubit candidates to achieve a significant nonlinear increase of computational power with the number of qubits. For novel materials there is a great challenge yet opportunity in Europe to create a complete value chain for SSJs and QCs. Such a complete value chain will contribute to Europe’s technology sovereignty. The MATQu project aims at validating the technology options to produce SJJs on industrial 300 mm silicon-based process flows. It covers substrate technology, superconducting metals, resonators, through-wafer-via holes, 3D integration, and variability characterization. These will be assessed with respect to integration practices of qubits. Core substrate and process technologies with high quality factors, improved material deposition on large-substrates, and increased critical temperature for superconducting operation, will be developed and validated. The MATQu partners complement each other in an optimal way across the value chain to create a substantial competitive advantage, e.g. faster time-to-market and roll-out of technologies and materials for better Josephson junctions for quantum computing.

IQM is a spin-out from Aalto University’s Quantum Computing and Devices (QCD) group and the Finnish State Research Centre (VTT). We were established to commercialise superconducting qubit and quantum information processing technologies. We have assembled the largest (25+) quantum hardware team among private European quantum computing companies. We are well positioned to develop the first commercial 1,000-qubit quantum computer: Prometheus. Prometheus will be the most advanced quantum computer in the world: 1,000 qubits represent the order of magnitude required to run commercially-viable quantum algorithms as well as the number needed to implement a few error-corrected logical qubits, assuming the current error rates (~0.1%) of physical qubits. This ambitious project is made possible by IQM’s key quantum processor innovations: 1) faster qubit reset with patented quantum-circuit refrigerator technology, 2) faster qubit readout with patent-pending multi-channel qubit measurement scheme, 3) faster logic gates with high-anharmonicity qubit design, and 4) novel micro-fabricated components (microwave amplifiers, low-temperature electronics, cabling and connectors). In the short-term (3 years), we will deliver 5- to 20-qubit devices to supercomputing centres, so they can experiment with noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) algorithms. We already have seen interest from organizations like CSC Finland, LRZ Munich and A*STAR IHPC. In the mid-term (5 years), we will deliver the first 1,000-qubit device expected to achieve superior performance to solve concrete industrial problems. We already have interest from large industrial customers such as Airbus, Volkswagen and Covestro to use our quantum computers to tackle problem such as traffic flow optimization and battery chemical structure simulation. We are ideally positioned to lead the second quantum revolution in Europe and become a European unicorn.

The Qu-Pilot FPA proposal consists of 21 partners from 9 different countries, aiming to develop and provide access to the first, federated European fabrication (production) capabilities for quantum technologies, building on and linking together existing infrastructures in Europe. Qu-Pilot will establish a capability innovation roadmap for providing experimental (pilot) production capabilities and a roadmap for transferring such capabilities to an industrial production environment. It will further provide experimental production capabilities for quantum technologies on the superconducting, photonics, semiconducting and diamond platforms, which will find application in computing, communication and sensing. The services will be available to users, including industry, in particular SMEs. Qu-Pilot will work closely with standardization efforts within quantum flagship to ensure development of European standards in the above fields. Qu-Pilot will provide services for the development of a European supply chain of quantum technologies, and give European industry, especially start-ups and SMEs, with the necessary innovation capacity, and make sure that critical IP remains within the EU. The competence development, industrial use-cases and ecosystem building – all the activities of Qu-Pilot FPA will be carried out within the specific grant agreements (SGAs) that will be granted from within the FPA, following the successful awarding of the FPA.