Synopsys (Northern Europe) Limited Public Funding

Development of cryo-CMOS to enable the next generation of scalable quantum computers

Modern life is unthinkable without computers. An ever-increasing amount of energy is required for computing, impacting the global drive to a low-carbon economy, and Moore's law is slowing as the circuit dimensions approach physical limits. Quantum computers can create a computational space much larger than their classical counterparts. They will shape computing, science and commercial standards by solving numerical problems that are currently out of reach in fields including chemistry, material science, logistics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and cryptography. The race is on to build the world's first practical quantum computers, which requires scaling from arrays of a few dozen qubits, to thousands, to millions of qubits. To achieve this, we need to create integrated systems of qubit arrays and control electronics. In most implementations, the qubits require cryogenic cooling, typically to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero. Yet conventional CMOS electronics is designed to operate at room temperature, and if these chips are cooled to cryogenic temperatures, the operating characteristics of the transistors change markedly, and they no longer work as intended. This problem is well recognised in the industry. Major players such as Google, Microsoft and Intel have all invested in progressing towards building specialised "cryo-CMOS" control electronics that can operate in the very cold environment that the qubits require. Most quantum computing companies, however, don't have the resources to develop silicon CMOS processes for cryogenic temperatures. Instead, they rely on semiconductor fabrication via foundries (e.g., TSMC, Globalfoundries), looking to various silicon IP companies to provide technology to enable them to exploit the foundries' manufacturing capability. This model has worked well for development of chips for room temperature operation, however it requires significant updating to create new designs that can work at ultra-cold temperatures. This project brings together world-leading expertise in CMOS design and quantum computing. We will create updated process design kits (PDKs) for cryogenic temperatures and an ecosystem of silicon IP products to enable chip designers to exploit foundries using the established fabless model. Thus the project will enable quantum computing companies to scale their hardware systems to create a new generation of more powerful quantum computers.

3-in-1 X-ray CT Inspection

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a highly disruptive and rapidly developing manufacturing technology with the potential to revolutionise the design, manufacturing and supply of parts, particularly within key high value manufacturing sectors. AM affords design freedom that can result in highly complex geometries. The benefits are enhanced functionality, significant mass savings and (potentially) reduced components cost. Although an inherent advantage, such geometric complexity provides a significant challenge for the inspection of AM parts. X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) generates a 3D image of the object, thus allowing detection of entrapped powder and voids, measurement of deviation of all surfaces and, potentially, extraction of surface topography. XCT can be used: During the product and process development to understand failures; the information obtained can be used to reduce the likelihood of build failure at each design iteration. Post-build to verify the quality of the product. XCT is the only viable method for non-destructive imaging (US Air Force Research Labs, 2014) and measurement of metallic products with surfaces that are inaccessible to conventional inspection technologies e.g. optical scanning and tactile probing. However, the capital costs are high and so increase the cost of AM product development, part qualification and, in production, of post-build inspection. 3in1XCT will develop the world's first system (hardware and software) to integrate advanced NDT, dimensional inspection and high-fidelity surface topography extraction for complete postbuild inspection. The platform will eliminate the need for other hardware (2D X-ray, optical scanners, surface profilometers, cut-up etc.) and so reduce the inspection cost per part. Within the project, the data obtained by the 3in1XCT platform will be exploited to provide feedback to digital tools for design and process modelling. This will be the first implementation of direct feedback (real-time within the product development loop) from XCT to design, with the expectation that this could halve the number of design-build iterations during the AM product development cycle. Fully automated workflows for both 3-in-1 inspection and for feedback to the design tools will be developed, eliminating the effort needed from experts in 3D image processing. The system will be tested using complex, real world examples provided by the end-users in the project. The project has representation from automotive, aerospace, space, defence and power generation- all high value, highly regulated sectors for which the high costs of product qualification and inspection creates a barrier to the adoption of AM technology.