Page 58 - EE Times Europe Magazine – June 2024

58 EE|Times EUROPE

THE INDUSTRY
Delft Quantum Ecosystem Addresses

Connectivity Challenges

By Robert Huntley

s the quantum industry advances, there are growing signs of
grassroots collaboration forming value chains and establishing
all-important ecosystems. Ecosystems are essential in any technol-
A ogy field, from embedded systems to semiconductor manufacturing.
They have many characteristics, but two typical identifying attributes are that
they foster innovation and collaboration. As quantum organizations, whether
creating qubits or developing sensors, start their journey through the forming,
storming and norming of team development and innovation, many realize they
can’t do it all and can’t do it alone. However, how do you start an ecosystem?

Delft Circuits (Delft, Netherlands), special- Sal [Jua Bosman], and I decided to look deeper
izing in quantum I/O hardware, has actively and begin with one point of a value chain: the
contributed to this all-important step. EE cabling. [In forming our company], we picked
Times Europe spoke to Daan Kuitenbrouwer, a specific part of the value chain, emphasizing
co-founder and chief commercial officer, to it as a key part, not just the cabling. Then Delft Circuits’ Daan Kuitenbrouwer
learn how the ecosystem of Delft-based other nascent Delft quantum companies real-
quantum companies started and about ized we had a clear vision, so they focused on
Delft Circuits’ involvement in the quantum solving different pieces of the value chain.” would be chips and characterization. In time,
value chain. Kuitenbrouwer noted that discussions with QuantWare has become the chip company and
like-minded individuals, such as a friend who Orange Quantum Systems the characteriza-
ESTABLISHING A QUANTUM had started a quantum control electronics tion company.”
VALUE CHAIN company, Qblox, shaped how the Delft quan-
Kuitenbrouwer said the formation of the tum community formed. One aspect of this COLLABORATIVE ECOSYSTEM TO
Dutch quantum scene owes much to the was wondering what the community might ADVANCE INTERFACE STANDARDS
investments made by the Dutch government look like in 10 years. “We knew we would need Kuitenbrouwer said the four companies
in the early 2010s. “This drove a lot of aca- a [cryogenic] fridge, but there are plenty of formed the ImpaQT consortium to foster a
demic research with people gaining Ph.D.s, manufacturers, so we wouldn’t need to do collaborative ecosystem to develop interop-
and then at a certain point, my co-founder, that,” he said. “We realized what we needed erable and industry-ready components.
“With so many different interfaces currently
available, it is paramount for the develop-
ment of utility-scale quantum computers
that these interfaces are standardized. Such
standardization work should happen not
only on paper but also on the ground with
actual hardware. ImpaQT is our vehicle to
achieve this.”
QUANTUM GOING COLD
EE Times Europe asked Kuitenbrouwer
whether he saw the quantum industry head-
ing in any direction regarding qubit creation.
“Yes, we see a trend that most quantum
applications are going cold,” he said.
“Broadly speaking, there are five approaches.
Google and IBM use superconducting meth-
ods. Then you have semiconductors or spin
and photonic quantum computing, where
everything happens at room temperature
Delft Circuits’ Cri/oFlex except the readout of the system, which hap-
provides fully integrated pens to be cold. Neural atoms use lasers in a
microwave drive-flux big vacuum, which is not necessarily always
bias lines for quantum cold; then you have trapped ions, which also
computing systems. tend to be cold.”

JUNE 2024 | www.eetimes.eu