QuTech and Intel have a long-standing collaboration, having worked together intensively on quantum research, with a focus on creating a working and scalable quantum computer, since 2015.

Intel’s Horse Ridge mounted on the board ready to be installed in the cryogenic refrigerator.

With the creation of the Horse Ridge chip in 2020, researchers and engineers from QuTech and Intel developed a cryogenic chip that can control qubits that operate at extremely low temperatures, something that conventional chips cannot normally do.

This advancement meant a big step towards solving the ‘wiring bottleneck’: we need to be able to electronically control quantum processors if we want to use them for calculations, but to able to connect a standard room-temperature controller to the cryogenic chamber within the ‘fridge’, we would have too many wires that run directly into the chamber. This is a problem if we want to scale up to thousands of qubits. Cryogenic electronics – or cryo-CMOS – is a promising solution to address this problem: the Horse Ridge chip is a controller that can operate at the same low temperatures as the qubits.

Collaborating further on scalability

In 2022, engineers from Intel and scientists from QuTech were able to produce the first industrially manufactured qubit within Intel’s computer chip manufacturing facilities, and in July 2023 they agreed to extend their alliance to further advance towards scalable and practical quantum computers.

Together they are continuing to push the state-of-the-art of cryogenic electrical interfaces for scalable quantum computers, by capitalizing on Delft’s expertise in cryogenic electronics and Intel capability to design and manufacture complex integrated circuits and SoCs.