Public Funding for Oxford Ionics Limited

To unlock the commercial impact of Quantum Computing (QC), today's small-scale quantum computers must be scaled into powerful quantum supercomputers. There are two approaches achieving this: **scaling up** by increasing the number of qubits on a single chip and **scaling out** by networking multiple smaller chips together. While scaling up is highly effective for small systems, it becomes increasingly challenging as the number of qubits grows. Scaling out uses a quantum network to entangle qubits in different chips. Trapped ions hold the world-records for Quantum Networks. However, while these state-of-the-art systems achieve excellent performance, they are not practical to deploy in a commercial setting due to the techniques used to deliver the required electrical and optical signals. The Network EXTensible Quantum Processing Unit (NextQPU) project seeks to address this challenge by developing a deployable prototype networkable quantum processing unit. This builds on Oxford Ionics' existing QPU platform by integrating the capability to collect photons entangled to the qubit states directly into microfabricated ion trap chips. Working closely on NextQPU with its customer, the National Quantum Computing Centre ("NQCC"), Oxford Ionics will deliver and demonstrate a commercial prototype networkable QPU, to be tested at the NQCC. NQCC deputy director, Simon Plant said, "_NextQPU is a key step in building a commercial ecosystem out of the UK's world-leading quantum networking academic research. Oxford Ionics is in a strong position to lead this exciting work thanks to their demonstrated expertise in quantum networking and advanced quantum computing technologies._"

Project SiNQ will investigate the hardware requirements for quantum computing technologies to meet challenging applications in drug design and material development. Quantum Computing will revolutionise these applications and Oxford Ionics is looking to develop novel quantum computers based on high-performance trapped-ion technology. The challenge is to develop new technologies which will enable these high-performance systems to be developed and commercialised. Photonic Integrated Circuits represent an exciting new technology able to underpin the quantum computing hardware needs for these applications. This project will look to develop an R&D supply chain for innovative PICs for Quantum Computing. The project will develop new designs, fabricate novel PICs and develop testbeds to industrial test standards. The project partners will work to develop a roadmap for the future development of this exciting technology which can underpin the accelerated commercialisation of Quantum Computing products. A benchmarking exercise will be performed as to the hardware developments and steps required to enable trapped ion technology to be exploited using this novel technology.

Quantum computers are expected to be able to solve hard computational challenges that are beyond the reach of our best standard supercomputers. After many years of research in both academia and industry, quantum computers are at the point of outperforming their standard ("classical") counterparts in certain specialised problems. One of the most exciting and plausible applications for near-term quantum computers is modelling quantum-mechanical systems. Understanding such systems is essential for many practical applications, ranging from the design of more efficient catalysts and solar panels to the development of novel drugs. However, exact modelling of a quantum system using a classical computer rapidly becomes infeasible as the system size increases. Quantum computers could overcome this limit and enable us to model currently inaccessible physical systems. Although there have been many years of theoretical work on quantum algorithms for this modelling task, standard algorithms for these applications require quantum hardware that is still decades away. Quantum software startup Phasecraft's goal is to maximise the potential of near-term quantum technologies for real world application. To achieve this, it has adopted a new approach to quantum algorithm development that has led to results so significant as to bring applications of quantum computing to materials modelling into the near-term quantum computing realm. These breakthroughs are already integrated into a quantum software demonstrator. The focus of this feasibility study is to make the next advance in quantum simulation algorithms, beyond even these ground-breaking recent results. This next step requires tight integration between quantum algorithm design, quantum hardware design and the specific applications in catalyst modelling. As well as their significant industrial importance, catalysts also represent the next challenge for quantum computation beyond crystalline materials, as it requires simulation of both structured crystalline materials and less structure molecules. The goal of the project is show how quantum simulation of this type of system can be made feasible on near-term quantum hardware, run proof-of-principle demonstrations on Oxford Ionics' ion trap quantum hardware and QuERA's cold atom hardware (accessed through AWS), and integrate the new algorithms into Phasecraft's quantum software. Our consortium includes world-renowned experts in quantum software and algorithms (Phasecraft), catalyst research (UCL), ion trap quantum hardware (Oxford Ionics), and commercial materials development (Johnson Matthey). Only this combination of expertise will be able to deliver on this ambitious goal.

TransmissION takes an innovative approach to meeting the critical need for integrated photonics required to scale up trapped-ion quantum computing. It is led by Oxford Ionics, experts in high performance quantum computing, in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics who have expertise in the development of photonic systems. Quantum computing, an area of heated and ongoing global competition, will revolutionise industries ranging from drug discovery to finance with market values in the hundreds of billions. As one of the favourable universal quantum computing platforms, trapped-ion quantum computing also needs to overcome the barriers to scaling before fully tapping into these huge markets. Current state-of-the-art systems are built with bulk-optics, which are not scalable, not to mention difficult to align and unstable. Therefore, a truly scalable integrated photonic chip is needed to replace the current bulky optics used in trapped ion quantum computing. TransnissION will study the feasibility of this new type of photonic chip aimed at addressing all of the requirements for integration and scalability in trapped-ion systems. As a project that has the potential to drastically advance the current state-of-the-art in trapped-ion quantum computing and beyond, TramsmissION is in the scope of the call and also well aligns with the heart of UK's national effort in quantum computing.

Quantum computers are a new type of powerful computer. They are based on building blocks called qubits. For quantum computers to work, we need to be able to control qubits in a predictable way. Controlling just one or two qubits is often the culmination of several years' work in a laboratory and can only be performed by highly trained researchers. Qubits are extremely fragile and require constant delicate attention, like the continuous tweaks of a circus performer keeping a plate spinning. With each new plate, the amount of computing power to keep them spinning increases. Eventually, with so many plates in the air at the same time, existing control methods quickly become overwhelmed. For quantum computing to become commercially useful, we need to be able to control hundreds or even thousands of qubits at the same time. This is the biggest bottleneck in quantum computing. We will solve this challenge by building a system that can control hundreds of qubits and that can be used across different types of quantum computers. We will also use a type of artificial intelligence called machine learning to automate the tuning of qubits and maximise the time they are 'spinning in the air'. This project brings together the UK's leading quantum software company (Riverlane), quantum hardware companies (SeeQC UK, Oxford Ionics) and research organisations (NPL, University of Oxford). They develop different types of qubits that we can test our control system on. Mind Foundry, a University of Oxford spin-out, will develop the artificial intelligence framework that can automatically keep the qubits "spinning". The University of Edinburgh will detect the state of the quantum computer and guarantee optimum performance after intervention. We will work together to combine quantum software and artificial intelligence to build a control system for quantum computers that is powerful and intelligent. Our project brings together UK-based academic and industrial organisations to strengthen the UK quantum industry and help produce quantum computers that will transform the way several industries, such as finance, drug discovery and materials development, work.

The Altnaharra project brings together leading researchers in superconducting, ion trap and spin qubits along with a world-leading cryogenic equipment supplier and world-leading centre for measurement standards to develop a cryogenic chip for integrated qubit control and readout, manufactured in a standard CMOS foundry. The development of such a chip is a fundamental enabler for the whole quantum computing community and a requirement for creating a quantum processor not limited by IO wires and therefore able to scale sufficiently to solve meaningful problems.

Quantum information processing (QIP) will revolutionise many industries with applications ranging from drug discovery to supply chain management. However, QIP faces a technological challenge in scalability. To secure quantum advantage and a fault-tolerant general purpose quantum computer many high-fidelity qubits and sources must be controlled. UpScale brings together four commercial partners and two research organisations to address this challenge. By using a scalable integrated photonic routing and addressing platform, different QIP architectures of trapped-ions and semiconductor photon sources will be supported. The integrated photonic platform leverages decades of development in telecommunications systems and semiconductor manufacturing and is compatible with cryogenic temperature operation and multiple independent qubit systems. UpScale will develop and deploy two major and innovative integrated photonic technologies: a silicon nitride (SiN) photonic integrated chip platform and cryogenic-compatible photonic coupling and packaging. The focus of UpScale is delivery of high-TRL scalable demonstrators rather than fundamental research. It will build on several recently published results and use photonic foundry services to provide a reliable supply chain and solve technical challenges associated with scalability at the pace required for commercialisation. The project is designed to maximise return on investment by developing technological solutions for scaling of QIP systems, for the benefit of multiple commercial partners. Additional routes to market include the commercialisation of photonic systems and cryogenic packaging services.

Without an operating system, computers would be much less useful. Before the invention of operating systems, computers could only run one calculation at a time. All tasks had to be scheduled by hand. Operating systems automate the scheduling of tasks and make sure that resources such as memory and disk space are allocated properly. Because operating systems simplify computers, everyone can handle them and benefit from them. Quantum computers are a new type of powerful computer. Big and high-quality quantum computers can outperform conventional computers at specific tasks, such as predicting the properties of a drug. Currently, it is difficult for users to interact with quantum computers because there is no good operating system. The systems that exist don't schedule tasks optimally and cannot perform calculations quickly. Building this operating system is difficult -- many have tried and no solutions have worked. We have invented an operating system to overcome this technical challenge: NISQ.OS. While competitors present quantum computers as a "black box", NISQ.OS exposes all its different elements. Many of them look far more familiar than you might think. Quantum computers consist of a quantum processing unit, which contains the qubits, a couple of layers of special-purpose chips that control the qubits, and a conventional computer for overall control. By providing access to all these layers of the "quantum computing stack", we give the user the power to schedule tasks in an optimal way. This will improve the performance of quantum computers by a 1,000-fold compared to other leading approaches. Once we integrate hardware and software tightly, we expect that the performance will improve by 1,000,000-fold. We have assembled a group of experts from across the UK to build the operating system. This includes the UK's leading quantum hardware companies, Hitachi, Oxford Quantum Circuits, SeeQC, Duality Quantum Photonics, Oxford Ionics, and Universal Quantum; Riverlane, a quantum software company; Arm, a UK-based chip manufacturer; and the National Physical Laboratory. The National Physical Laboratory plays an important role because their expertise lies in developing technical standards for breakthrough technology. To build our operating system, we need to define a new standard interface between software and hardware that everyone can use. Our project will attract many important customers, such as pharmaceutical or chemical companies, as well as the financial industry. Because our operating system is so much better, they will want to run their applications on UK-based quantum computers.

The UK has world leading capability in scalable, high fidelity qubit generation for quantum computing, with two particularly compelling approaches being neutral atoms and ion microtraps. These technologies, however, remain at low TRL because a viable commercialisation approach requires the provision of test beds available to the UK community, and test beds are unavailable owing to two technology barriers -- qubit scalability and fidelity. Providing these test beds requires inter-disciplinary expertise beyond any one company. Our vision for this project is to bring together a such world-leading multidisciplinary consortium of UK industry and academic partners -- the only group capable of overcoming the two barriers and creating a globally leading industry for commercial quantum computing and simulation hardware. The programme will show a transition from fundamental, academic TRL activity to scalable, commercial deployments of cold matter quantum information systems; overcoming the fidelity and scalability barriers via advancement of system manufacturability including microfabrication and vacuum hardware; development of the photonics backbone including advanced lasers for state preparation, qubit control and readout, requiring high levels of optical power, stability and noise suppression; and the design and delivery of electronics and control systems, including modular electronics and advanced control and sequencing hardware. The key objectives in overcoming the barriers as described above is to bring the technology to a level where pragmatic test bed facilities for the benefit of the quantum community can be realised. Commercially, by establishing the potential scalability of the technology the consortium will establish a supply chain cluster, evidencing the potential impact, and producing a roadmap to industrial production. The partners have extensive experience in the sector and can already demonstrate commercial deployment of relevant technologies across the global market for quantum information systems. Furthermore, the planned work can be expected to dovetail with existing national quantum computing infrastructure, to realise coordinated growth of the UK quantum computing sector for the wider benefit of UK plc, and trigger significant additional investment outside the project funding.