Jülich Research Center partners with ARQUE Systems to advance scalable semiconductor quantum computers

The Jülich Research Center has entered into a significant development partnership with ARQUE Systems. As part of this collaboration, a patented quantum computer with a 5-qubit quantum processor will be integrated into the JUNIQ (Jülich Unified Infrastructure for Quantum Computing) research platform of the Jülich Supercomputing Center (JSC) next year. The semiconductor-based quantum computer is already designed in such a way that it can be expanded to hundreds of qubits in the future.

Current quantum chips are extremely sensitive to environmental influences, which makes it difficult to build stable and error-free quantum computers. Millions of qubits are required for error correction, as thousands of physical qubits are needed to create a few logical, error-free units. However, the step from the current 1000 qubits to one million is extremely complex.

ARQUE Systems’ solution is semiconductor qubits based on transistor-like structures. Instead of classic switches, they are used to capture individual electrons, whose spin serves as a quantum mechanical computing unit. This technology is closely related to existing semiconductor manufacturing. Therefore, ARQUE Systems is working closely with the Helmholtz Nano Facility at the FZJ and with Infineon Dresden to develop qubits and scalable structures

Another advantage of semiconductor qubits is their small size and the ability to integrate the classic control electronics on the semiconductor chip with qubit units in a tile of about 100 µm ² area. The chip can then be built from millions of such tiles, but this requires a qubit connection between the tiles. ARQUE Systems solves this problem by moving the qubits on the chip. Electrons are transported along so-called shuttle paths like on a conveyor belt over several micrometers without the information encoded with their spin being lost. Based on this principle, ARQUE uses a unique and patented processor architecture, which was published in the renowned journal Nature Communications. In the future, this technology will make it possible to accommodate several million qubits on a single square centimeter chip and to integrate the necessary infrastructure such as supply lines and control electronics.