SBIR Phase I: Versatile Low-Noise Traveling-Wave Parametric Amplifier for Quantum Information Processing

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将来自于适合向量子信息处理社区销售的行波参数放大器（TWPA）原型的开发。量子计算机需要在绝对零度附近工作的极其灵敏的放大器来放大微弱的信号。该放大器有两个关键特性将直接使社区受益：1)每个放大器具有更多量子比特的能力-这对大规模量子计算机至关重要；2)使用商业制造工艺的能力。随着量子硬件的不断扩展，量子比特的数量也在不断增加，这使得多通道放大器变得必不可少。欧洲和亚洲对量子技术的投资正以惊人的速度增长。美国正面临失去这一技术领域领先地位的风险。TWPA技术的商业化是美国保持量子技术竞争力所需技术的一个例子。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将通过解决实验设备的一些接口、封装和制造限制，为量子信息处理市场引入TWPA产品原型。将这些放大器推向市场的关键是大规模制造这种设备的手段。该技术的一个关键优势是易于制造，并且可以使用行业标准流程制造，这将在第一阶段项目中进行演示。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will result from the development of a traveling-wave parametric amplifier (TWPA) prototype suitable to be marketed to the Quantum Information Processing community. Quantum computers require extremely sensitive amplifiers operating near absolute zero to amplify weak signals. There are two critical features of this amplifier that will benefit the community directly: 1) the ability to have more qubits per amplifier - essential for large scale quantum computers, and 2) the ability to use a commercial manufacturing process. As quantum hardware continues to scale, so does the number of qubits, making multichannel amplifiers essential. European and Asian investment in quantum technology is growing at an alarming rate. The US is at risk of losing the leading position in this technical space. The commercialization of TWPA technology is an example of technologies required for the US to remain competitive in quantum technology.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will introduce a TWPA product prototype for the Quantum Information Processing market by addressing some of the interfacing, packaging and manufacturing limitations of experimental devices. Critical to the ability to distribute these amplifiers to the market is a means of manufacturing such devices at scale. A key advantage of the proposed technology is its ease of fabrication and the fact that it can be fabricated using an industry standard process, which will be demonstrated during the Phase I project.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.