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QUANTUM COMPUTING
France as a uantum Plan

By Anne-Françoise Pelé

fter months of consultations with scientific experts, France ing in France. But we have interesting quantum startups and industry
unveiled a national plan for quantum technologies in champions that will support quantum technologies.”
January. 2020 looks like it could be the year when theories
A become facts. APPS IN FIVE YEARS?
Commissioned by the French Prime Minister in April 201 , the mis- A key challenge is coming up with concrete applications in the near
sion on quantum technologies ended with the submission of a 6 -page future. uantum sensors and quantum communications could help in
report titled “ uantum the technological shift that France will not that regard, with the first applications expected to arrive within the
miss.” This article does not exhaustively describe the six ambitions, six next five to 10 years. A few banks in Switzerland already use quantum
recommendations, and proposals but provides an overview analysis communications, and quantum gra-
of France’s quantum strategy. vimeters are seeing early adoption in
“201 was a defining year for quantum technologies,” said Paula scientific applications, Mounier said.
Forteza, French Member of Parliament in charge of the report, during To better assess quantum sensors’
its presentation ceremony. “China has developed the world’s first potential, Mounier drew a parallel
quantum satellite station. Google, Amazon, and many other U.S. com- between using quantum technologies
panies have made significant announcements. European countries have for sensing and adopting microelectro-
launched their action plans. The world is getting ready. The world is mechanical systems (MEMS) for sensors
investing. The world is gaining skills, and it’s urgent for France to work years ago. “By using MEMS technology
on this subject and make the right investments.” for manufacturing sensors, we did not
create new sensors, but we improved
DEPLOYING INFRASTRUCTURE the sensitivity and reliability of existing
uantum computing could change everything. It could solve prob- sensors” and optionally created a new Yole’s Éric Mounier
lems we are not even aware of and open new avenues by addressing supply chain and more business, Mounier
key industrial simulation and optimization challenges in chemical said. Similarly, “quantum sensors do not necessarily measure differ-
research, financial services, health care, life science, manufacturing, ent things than traditional sensors’ but will do it with a much higher
and defense. Conscious of what is at stake, France announced its accuracy.” uantum imaging, for instance, uses entangled photons for
ambition to develop fault-tolerant large-scale quantum computers imaging even when a lot of background noise is present.
and create, by the end of the decade, Europe’s first fabless supplier of Mounier called quantum sensors “very interesting” for industrial
silicon-based processors. In the meantime, France is considering the applications (e.g., environmental monitoring, civil engineering,
development of noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers with underground resource exploration), but “quantum computers will
applications in chemistry, logistics, and artificial intelligence. have the highest potential.” Current quantum sensor products, used
Are these ambitions realistic and achievable To assess France’s in high-end industrial and research applications, are superconducting
chances for success, EE Times Europe consulted ric Mounier, quantum quantum interference devices (S UIDs) and gravimeters. The use of
expert and fellow analyst at Yole D veloppement. “France is world- S UIDs in oil prospecting, mineral exploration, earthquake prediction,
class for its strong competencies in mathematics, a critical discipline and geothermal energy surveying is becoming more widespread as
for quantum computing ,” he said. “We also have strong knowledge in superconductor technology develops, Mounier said. uantum devices
engineering and software, which are key to the development of quan- are also used as precision movement sensors in a variety of scientific
tum computers. applications such as the detection of gravitational waves.
“France’s main weakness is — as always — industrialization, and Most commercial gravimeters use free-fall technology, the Yole ana-
crossing the chasm of R D to commercial products is still challeng- lyst said. Apart from Muquans, AtomSensors, AOSense, and M Squared,

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