ESCHER: Establishing Supply Chains for Emergent Quantum Computers

英国国家量子技术计划的一个关键支柱是推动实用的量子计算设备。全球商业和学术机构都在追求这一重大挑战，它可能产生深远的经济和社会影响。网络量子信息技术（NQIT）中心旨在开发具有光互连的捕获离子微处理器网络，作为容错量子计算的途径。对于该领域的研究人员和公司来说，这项任务的规模是艰巨的，但对于实现这一目标的必要增量工程步骤，存在明确的途径。到目前为止，演示已经验证了基本概念，但交付所需的可扩展性水平，例如，通用量子计算机将需要量子硬件工程的突破性发展。这将不可避免地要求供应链与该领域的领先开发人员和研究人员一起出现和成熟。目前，推动各种量子计算和网络学科极限的团队依赖于定制硬件，这些硬件并不普遍可用，而且制造成本很高。合作伙伴寻求解决的市场机会是将自己定位于各种量子计算和量子信息处理设备的新兴供应链网络的核心。对于M Squared激光器（MSL）来说，这个市场机会将从向他们现有的全球客户群提供关键子系统开始，他们已经与他们密切合作。长期的机会来自于建立在广泛的协作网络和系统集成能力之上的垂直集成。同样，Covesion （COV）将在关键光学元件的供应中发挥关键作用，从本文提出的单光子源和量子频率转换器的非线性变频晶体和波导器件开始。NQIT是英国将量子计算技术从实验室推向市场的主要研究和开发工作。因此，NQIT非常适合与MSL和COV合作开发量子计算供应链，以满足这一新兴领域的先进工程需求。目前最先进的目标技术是为特定实验创建的复杂实验室建造设备。合作伙伴在目标领域拥有相关经验，通过拟议的正式合作，可以创建两条新产品线，这些产品线将适用于各种量子计算应用。开发的核心将是：MSL现有的产品线，即Sprite XT超快激光器和Ice Bloc模块化电子平台；新冠公司的PPLN产品线；牛津大学量子信息组的单光子和量子频率转换器的现有经验和演示；来自南安普顿大学的铌酸锂波导设计专业知识，以及与稳定，低噪声直流驱动电子设备相关的丰富经验和专业知识，用于解决苏塞克斯大学离子QT组的可扩展离子阱阵列。

A key pillar of the UK National Quantum Technology Programme is the drive towards practical quantum computing devices. This grand challenge, being pursued by commercial and academic institutions globally, has potentially far reaching economic and social implications. The Networked Quantum Information Technologies (NQIT) hub aims to develop networks of trapped ion microprocessors with optical interconnects as a route to fault tolerant quantum computing. The scale of the task for researchers and companies in the field is formidable yet a clear pathway exists for the necessary incremental engineering steps towards this goal. Demonstrations to date have validated the underlying concepts, yet the level of scalability required to deliver, for instance, a universal quantum computer will require groundbreaking developments in quantum hardware engineering. This will inevitably require supply chains to emerge and mature along with the leading developers and researchers in the field.Currently, the groups pushing the limits of a variety of quantum computing and networking disciplines are reliant on bespoke hardware, not widely available and with a high manufacturing overhead. The market opportunity that the partners seek to address, is to position themselves at the core of the emerging supply chain network for a variety of quantum computing and quantum information processing devices. For M Squared Lasers (MSL), this market opportunity will begin with key subsystem supply to their existing worldwide customer base, with whom they are already working closely. The long-term opportunity comes from moving towards vertical integration building upon a wide collaborative network and system integration capabilities. Similarly Covesion (COV) will play a key role in the supply of critical optical components, starting here with nonlinear frequency conversion crystals and waveguide devices for the proposed single photon sources and quantum frequency converters. NQIT is the main research and development effort in the UK pushing quantum computing technologies from the lab to the marketplace. NQIT is therefore ideally placed to work with MSL and COV on developing a supply chain for quantum computing which meets the advanced engineering demands of this emerging sector.The current state-of-the-art for the targeted technologies are complex lab-built devices created ad hoc for specific experiments. The partners have relevant experience in the targeted areas and through the proposed formal collaboration, can create two new product lines that will find applicability in a variety of quantum computing applications.The core of the developments will be: existing product lines at MSL, namely the Sprite XT ultrafast laser and Ice Bloc modular electronics platform; the PPLN product line at COV; existing experience and demonstrations of single photon and quantum frequency converters in the quantum information group at the University of Oxford; lithium niobate waveguide design knowhow from the University of Southampton and extensive experience and knowhow relating to stable, low-noise DC drive electronics for addressing scalable ion trap arrays at the Ion QT group at the University of Sussex.