Page 39 - EE Times Europe March 2022

EE|Times EUROPE 39

OPINION | QUANTUM COMPUTING
associated commitments from researchers
Why Europe Will Lead at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid
State Physics (IAF) and the University of Ulm,
to develop new techniques for the fabrica-
the Quantum Revolution tion and control of diamond-based quantum
microprocessors. Their work may rival the
historic impacts of the original transistors
and MOSFET semiconductor and the advent
By Mark Mattingley-Scott, Quantum Brilliance of the modern GPU.
And the work of these institutions is just
part of Europe’s leadership in the space.
The quantum computing race is going to be won in Europe. According to a recent McKinsey report,
Bold prediction, I know. But I believe the highly favorable Europe’s quantum research, as measured by
conditions in Europe will create a perfect storm of innovation and the number of published papers, outpaces
execution that will lead the world. that of the U.S. and other countries by a
We need to look first at the easy availability of public invest- wide margin.
ment. The European Union has made billions of euros available for The key elements of a robust quantum
developing quantum technologies, especially for quantum comput- industry are established here. Ensuring our
ing. Germany alone has committed €2.2 billion, while the EU has ultimate success, however, will require a
committed more than €145 billion over the next two to three years to vision of a quantum computing future that
develop next-generation processors, with some of that investment dedicated to quantum. These inspires us all, from engineers to government
public funding initiatives, signaling governments’ full support, reduce the risk for the venture leaders to every European.
capitalists looking to commit large sums to promising quantum startups. So what should that vision be?
In Europe, we also excel at building things. The engineering and manufacturing capabil- I was a young boy when the first humans
ities found in Germany, Finland, Sweden, and France, for example, are legendary. There are landed on the moon in July 1969. My father
world-leading companies here in process and discrete manufacturing. The ability to overcome woke me up in the middle of the night to
technical challenges and effectively scale quantum computing technology is an often-overlooked watch the moon landing on our TV. The next
asset that will serve Europe well as quantum hardware manufacturing takes hold. day, I got my first soldering iron and my first
Another key factor is the variety and vitality of European industry, which will benefit from components to build a radio because I wanted
the exponentially faster computations that quantum computers will enable. There are countless to know how the astronauts on the moon
potential customers, especially those involved in materials science, chemistry, and pharma- were able to communicate with the crew back
ceuticals. Europe is a huge player in these markets, which are prime initial targets of quantum on Earth. That’s what set me on my path in
computing developers. electronics engineering.
And let’s not forget Europe’s research prowess, which will benefit from quantum computing. When JFK made his pledge in 1962 that the
According to one study, Germany alone has some 400 research groups among its impressive U.S. would get to the moon by the end of the
array of research societies that will likely leverage the power of quantum in fields of study decade, rocket scientists thought it would be
requiring massive computations. impossible. Yet seven years later, Neil
So we have a lot of companies capable of supporting and producing the infrastructure and Armstrong walked on the moon.
technology required for quantum’s success. We have more than a critical mass of potential con- We need that same kind of vision to drive
sumers of that technology. And we have the people, the brains, and the human capital. us forward in this nascent industry — one that
We also have a technology that may be first to market and first to have a real-world impact: sees all the amazing possibilities and benefits
diamond-based quantum of this new quantum future.
computing. Where will quantum computing take us?
The technology was born at It could help run robots on the moon and
the University of Stuttgart when Mars and help establish long-term human
quantum researchers pioneered a colonies there. It could help humanity prevent
way to take advantage of imperfec- the next pandemic. It could reduce energy use
tions in synthetic diamonds called by large percentages and help reverse the pace
nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers to and impacts of climate change.
generate quantum bits (qubits), Whenever a revolutionary new technology
the subatomic particles used for is introduced, people have some ideas about
computation. The process enables how it might be used — and those predictions
developers to produce quantum almost always turn out to be short-sighted.
hardware in small form factors Like the transistor and the internet before it,
that operate at room temperature, quantum computing will spark an explosion
opening new vistas of potential of completely new application areas we’d
near-term applications, versus the never even thought about, because they
longer quantum roadmaps of the were impossible. And then they suddenly
U.S. tech giants. become possible.
The good news is that several It is going to be an exciting ride. Join us,
companies in Europe are in hot won’t you? ■
pursuit of these applications,
and the German government has Mark Mattingley-Scott is general manager,
already committed funds, along with EMEA, at Quantum Brilliance.

www.eetimes.eu | MARCH 2022