04.05.2023
planqc has been selected by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to develop a digital hardware and software platform for quantum computing based on neutral atoms that is scalable and can demonstrate quantum algorithms for real-world problems. The contract is worth 29 million euros. planqc is collaborating with Menlo Systems and ParityQC, which are providing critical components in the form of the laser system, as well as for software and architecture. This is the first customer order for a digital quantum computer based on neutral atoms in Europe. The order comes at an impressive growth period for the company and follows Hermann Hauser's appointment as an advisory board member.
planqc - Europe's market leader for digital quantum processors based on neutral atoms - has prevailed in a Europe-wide competition and has now been awarded the contract to build and install a quantum processor that uses ultracold atoms in optical lattices at the DLR Innovation Center in Ulm, Germany. The system will be scalable and integrated into DLR's quantum computing stack as part of the DLR Quantum Computing Initiative (DLR QCI).
"We are very proud that DLR has chosen planqc as a technology leader in the field of neutral atoms to build a quantum computer. This order is an important milestone in our commercialization and growth strategy, which foresees expansion into other key industries and the development of global markets as the next step," says Alexander Glätzle, CEO and co-founder of planqc.
"Not only are we excited to install the first quantum computer based on neutral atoms at DLR, but we also want to work closely with DLR experts to run quantum algorithms on it that will have real added value for DLR's many application fields." Sebastian Blatt, CTO and co-founder of planqc, adds.
Quantum computers are considered a disruptive technology that will in the future make it possible to perform calculations and simulations in certain application areas much faster than on classical supercomputers. They can be used, for example, to design new materials or medicines, or to solve complex problems in the transport, energy or financial sectors. Quantum computers use the quantum mechanical effects of entanglement and superposition: their quantum bits (qubits) can assume the states 0 and 1 simultaneously - and not just one after the other, like classical computers. This is precisely what makes quantum computers so powerful.
The problem areas identified by DLR include quantum materials, quantum machine learning, optimization of satellites, and simulation of chemical reactions to develop more efficient battery systems. Through its own research activities, DLR has a clear need for the future use of quantum computers in all of its priority areas, such as aerospace, energy, transport, security and digitization.
To boost joint development and exploit synergies with DLR, planqc will have its own laboratory and office space at the DLR Innovation Center in Ulm. "Diversity is an important feature of the DLR Quantum Computing Initiative. The QCI pursues different technological approaches to explore the respective advantages and disadvantages. With this project, we are adding another promising technology to our quantum computing portfolio at the Ulm site," says Dr. Karla Loida, project manager in the QCI. "For the neutral atoms to become qubits, they must first be trapped and held by laser beams in a vacuum," says Dr. Robert Axmann, head of the DLR Quantum Computing Initiative (QCI). The atoms are then arranged in a regular pattern, similar to an egg carton, and can be manipulated with lasers. This is how individual qubits are created. "To make two qubits interact with each other, the atoms are put into so-called Rydberg states. Without an interaction or entanglement between qubits, quantum computers do not work," explains Robert Axmann.
The start-up planqc was founded in April 2022 in Garching near Munich (Germany). The founding team builds on decades of groundbreaking research and technology development at Munich's Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ). Optical gratings, a technology developed in Munich, can already be used to trap thousands of atoms in a crystal of light formed by a single laser beam. Quantum information is stored in electronic states of strontium atoms, the same states used to build the world's best atomic clocks because of their exceptionally long coherence times. This unique combination of quantum technologies has the potential to scale most rapidly to thousands of qubits with superior gate quality, a prerequisite for an industry-relevant quantum advantage.
For more information, see www.planqc.eu
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