Australia’s Archer details first stage of room temp quantum chip success

Archer Exploration has claimed assembly of the first quantum bit (qubit) component of a prototype room-temperature quantum computing chip.

The announcement is part of the Sydney-based company’s 12CQ project that aims to build a carbon-based quantum computing device that operates at room-temperature, starting with the chip.

To assemble the first qubit component of the chip, Archer isolated a single qubit, precisely positioning it on a silicon wafer, with the process being performed at room-temperature.

Read more: Archer commences room-temperature quantum chip build

According to Archer, the process overcomes the key technological barrier of demonstrating the possibility of qubit scalability in the fabrication of a working chip prototype.

The ability to directly position individual qubits is a key requirement for building a scalable chip.

Archer said that to achieve this, it uses a carbon-based qubit that has the potential to enable chip operation at room-temperature, as well as integrate with modern devices.

The process was performed with nanometre scale accuracy on silicon and is repeatable and reproducible, Archer said. The process, however, is not limited to silicon.

“This level of positional accuracy and control is required to build a working prototype, and the process allows Archer to quickly build and test quantum information processing devices incorporating a number of qubits; individual qubits; or a combination of both, which is necessary to meet Archer’s aim of building a chip for a practical quantum computer,” the company said in a statement.

“This outstanding achievement further strengthens our commercial readiness, as we’ve met a key milestone in derisking and progressing the chip technology development, while demonstrating a key success factor [of a scalable qubit architecture] the quantum computing community commonly uses to qualify the most promising early-stage, long-term potential solutions to practical quantum computing,” Archer CEO Dr Mohammad Choucair added.

Archer is building chip prototypes at the Research and Prototype Foundry out of the University of Sydney’s AU$150 million Sydney Nanoscience Hub.

Archer in April received a AU$15,000 NSW TechVoucher from the New South Wales government to give it access to facilities at the Research and Prototype Foundry to build chip prototypes.

Archer said it intends to continue development of the 12CQ qubit processor chip by completing the next stages of component assembly, which see it work towards a proof-of-concept prototype chip.

The prototype chip validation is required to establish a minimum viable product, Archer said.

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Article source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/australias-archer-details-first-stage-of-room-temp-quantum-chip-success/#ftag=RSSbaffb68