Lancaster University News: €3M Super ICQ Project for Quantum
Lancaster Physics Joins €3 Million European Initiative to Revolutionize Quantum Computing Hardware
Lancaster University News
Lancaster University is a significant partner in a €3 million European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder initiative. The “Superconducting Integrated Circuits for Scalable Quantum Systems” (Super ICQ) initiative aims to reduce technological barriers to quantum computer commercialization and industrialization.
The Lancaster University team led by Dr. Michael Thompson and Professors Jonathan Prance and Yuri Pashkin received a €650,000 special grant to create ultra-low-power electronics. This financing invests heavily on “visionary science” to create “breakthrough innovation” in cryogenic electronics.
The Search for “Quantum Systems on a Chip”
This research fundamentally rethinks quantum technology design. Qubits, the “brains” of a quantum computer, require massive, complex support systems. Lancaster is leading the research to demonstrate ultra-low-power circuits that can interface, readout, and control superconducting quantum computers.
The group hopes to reach “future quantum systems on a chip,” which would scale and integrate quantum computing from huge, lab-scale activities, by shrinking these devices.
Outgrowing the “Josephson Junction” Limit
This undertaking must be understood in terms of Josephson junctions (JJs), the current building blocks of quantum electronics. These ingredients have long underpinned classical and quantum cryogenic electronics. The fact that traditional JJs use magnetic flux control or electric current is a major engineering problem.
That transistor voltage control, which drives the semiconductor industry, is much more practical than this approach. Laptops and cellphones use field-effect transistors, which work efficiently with tiny voltage signals. Super ICQ aims to achieve quantum efficiency using Josephson field-effect transistors (JoFETs).
New Era: Graphene to 200 mm Wafers
Since the 1980s, JoFET “proof-of-concept” versions have been published in various materials, but the technology has failed to reach the integrated circuit (IC) level. Lancaster University and collaborators believe a new scalable graphene-based JoFET fabrication process may solve the problem.
The Super ICQ collaboration wants to use graphene to make a 200 mm wafer platform. Development of “truly scalable” superconducting integrated circuits hinges on this. The researchers will build key elements of this platform, including:
Quantum-limited parametric amps
Filters on chip
Ultra-sensitive microwave bolometers Resonators with tuning voltage
Multi-module control and readout.
By controlling and reading out cutting-edge superconducting qubits, these modules will validate the new JoFET integrated circuits.
Global Competition and EIC Pathfinder
Lancaster's expanding international research status is shown by the team's funding. Over 2,000 ideas from 71 countries were submitted for the EIC Pathfinder prizes, a record.
Only 44 projects were funded from this massive application pool. Thus, the Super ICQ project joins the top 2% of creative ventures worldwide.
Lancaster University researchers will receive funding, networking, coaching, and mentorship from EIC Business Acceleration Services. This ensures that scientific vision is immediately implemented, especially in high-stakes domains like HPC and AI.
Overall Impact: AI and More
This discovery has far-reaching implications beyond physics. Scalable, gated Josephson junctions are expected to “kick off a new era” in computing. As artificial intelligence and high-performance computing demand more power and processing speed, JoFET technology's fast and low-power capabilities could constitute the hardware foundation for future supercomputers.
Ultra-low-power superconducting integrated circuits, which silicon electronics cannot make, will help the “quantum computing revolution” continue.
