Reliable, high throughput production and characterisation of coherent superconducting devices

Advanced production capabilities have allowed conventional electronics based on semiconductors to become more powerful and support almost all technologies we use today, from laptops to washing machines and cutting edge medical equipment. But semiconductors are now facing hard limits as the miniaturisation of components reaches closer to the atomic scale.

The limitations of these classical circuits can be overcome with quantum circuits, which utilise all the tricks of nature to open up areas in sensing, security and information processing technology that previously remained elusive. One of the most successful ways of building these quantum circuits is with superconductors, which can be built with many of the tools already used for conventional electronics and allow for a large degree of customisation to be applied to almost any area within quantum technology.

Building these superconducting circuits is currently a challenging feat, requiring close to atomic level accuracy of circuit writing and total isolation from any radiation, contamination and defects that would otherwise disturb the delicate quantum state of these circuits. Furthemore, accessing cryogenic equipment and state-of-the-art electronics for verification also presents a significant up-front investment. The capacity to produce these circuits is therefore confined to academic and national labs, and a very small number of secretive commercial ventures.

Whilst there are many potential business opportunities ready to be exploited in this space, the superconducting circuits' production challenges present a large barrier to entry to most companies in the UK. They simply do not have the resources available to catch-up and compete with commercially available solutions.

Fortunately, the UK is home to world-leading experts in the manufacture and validation of high quality superconducting circuits, and to world-class commercial partners across the whole supply chain from production to integration and measurement. Together we are bringing the capability to produce superconducting circuits at commercial scale and quality, for a nascent quantum economy that is about to rapidly expand.

To provide lower barriers to entry and empower UK-based ventures, we will develop R&D centres for businesses, as well as foundries for the purchase of superconducting devices and access to testing equipment. This unique extra capability will empower the UK as a hub for technology based on superconducting circuits, bringing in jobs and investment, and delivering a domestic supply of a technology with many strategic benefits.