Rigetti and QphoX awarded Pioneer Superconducting Quantum Networking a $5.8 million AFRL contract.
To develop superconducting quantum networking, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded a three-year, $5.8 million contract to Rigetti Computing, Inc. and QphoX, a leading developer of quantum transduction systems and a US-based full-stack quantum computing pioneer.
Overcoming the Microwave-Optical Divide
The primary objective of the project is to tackle a significant obstacle in superconducting quantum computer networking: the requirement to transform microwave signals, which govern the superconducting qubits, into optical photons that are capable of traversing conventional fibre optics. In the context of quantum information, optical interconnects allow room-temperature, long-range quantum state transfer between cryogenically chilled quantum processors, and optical data transfer is crucial for global information networks.
Delivering devices that enable entanglement between superconducting qubits and optical photons, which is the fundamental component of quantum networking, is the main goal of the partnership.
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Technology Incorporation
Rigetti and QphoX successfully demonstrated optical single-shot qubit readout using qubit-transducer devices in a previous demonstration, which the project improves upon. As of right now, the plan combines:
Rigetti created superconducting microwave qubits. Entanglement is made possible by combining QphoX’s technology with Rigetti’s 9-qubit Novera QPU. Rigetti uses its Fab-1 facility in Berkeley to design and produce its semiconductors.
Secondly, QphoX created single-photon microwave-optical transducers. World-class transduction technology from QphoX seeks to close the gap between telecom, optical, and microwave frequencies.
In order to convert individual microwave photons to optical photons while maintaining their quantum character (or quantum coherence), excitations will be transferred from the qubit chip resonators to the transducers. To enable entanglement between distant superconducting processors and to design a scalable, distributed quantum computing architecture, it is necessary to preserve this fragile quantum state.
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The Strategic Significance of AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is working on the creation of heterogeneous quantum interconnects to include matter-based quantum technologies, such as superconducting qubits, with its well-established telecom-based QLANs in Rome, New York.
Connecting superconducting qubit computers to telecom QLANs through interconnects will be a revolutionary breakthrough, according to AFRL principal research physicist Matt LaHaye. According to him, this technology will enable basic study on entanglement distribution and offer possibilities for Air Force and DoD operations.
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Consequences for the Quantum Future
Researchers are investigating the potentially revolutionary applications of quantum networking. Among them are:
- Distributed Quantum Computing: Through the networking of smaller systems, quantum networks provide a means of scaling to bigger, more potent quantum computing systems.
- Secure Quantum Internet: This technology is essential to creating a long-range, secure quantum internet.
- Geographic Information Transfer: It might make it possible to send data across quantum nodes that are spread over different geographical areas.
The partnership intends to commercialise the transduction layer required for networking several modest-scale quantum processors over fibre, turning lab demonstrations into production-ready parts that can be included into current quantum-classical infrastructures.
For the United States to continue to lead the world in quantum information science, AFRL’s backing of this technology is crucial, stressed Dr. Subodh Kulkarni, CEO of Rigetti.
A significant turning point for this sector is getting their technology directly into the hands of an end-user who creates quantum networks using superconducting qubits connected by optical interconnects, according to Dr Simon Groeblacher, CEO of QphoX.
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Regarding Rigetti
In terms of full-stack quantum computing, Rigetti is a pioneer. Through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services platform, the company has been operating quantum computers over the cloud since 2017 and provides services to clients in the government, research, and enterprise sectors worldwide. Rigetti started offering on-premises quantum computing systems with 24–84 qubit counts in 2021 to support quantum computing centres and national labs. The 9-qubit Novera QPU by Rigetti was released in 2023 to serve a larger R&D community.
It is a high-performance on-premises QPU that can be integrated into a customer’s current control and cryogenic systems. High-performance integration with public and private clouds is made possible by the company’s patented quantum-classical architecture, which enables useful quantum computing. The first multi-chip quantum processor in the industry was created by Rigetti for scalable quantum computing systems. The company’s in-house chip design and manufacturing is done at Fab-1, the first integrated and dedicated quantum device manufacturing facility in the industry.
Regarding QphoX
When it comes to creating quantum transduction systems that allow quantum computers to communicate via optical wavelengths, QphoX is the industry leader. Their single-photon interfaces, which offer crucial quantum linkages between computation, state storage, and networking, leverage decades of advancements in photonic, MEMS, and superconducting device nanofabrication. These interfaces span the spectrum spanning microwave, optical, and telecom frequencies. The headquarters of QphoX are in Delft, Netherlands.
