#quantumsupplychain

PNNL news today

The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has developed high-purity gas conversion and purification systems for silane and germane, strengthening the nation's technical infrastructure. These two gases are essential to quantum information science and the semiconductor industry.

Strengthening Quantum Supply Chain

Its main purpose is to provide a reliable domestic route for supplies; it reached a milestone in 2026. The US wants to replace commercially available enhanced starting chemicals with device-compatible precursor gases for high-tech production. The DOE Office of Isotope R&D and Production (IRP) manages this project strategically.

Germane and silane are industrial powerhouses, not lab experiments. The semiconductor industry uses them to deposit silicon and germanium thin films, which are vital to computer chips. PNNL protects American research and development from worldwide supply chain uncertainty by providing a domestic source of high-purity gases.

Novel Separation Methods

This breakthrough relies on improved thermal diffusion isotope separation (TDIS) technology. PNNL has created TDIS systems for enriching chlorine and argon, but transitioning to silane and germane presented scientific problems.

Researchers recommended greater study to develop safe and effective systems for these chemicals. The lab's chemical separation skills helped overcome these challenges. Further isotopically enriching these gases is important to meet quantum technology's rigorous standards, where even tiny contaminants might affect quantum states.

Safety and Precision in Engineering

Maintaining these materials requires extreme accuracy. Chemical engineer and project chief investigator Mike Powell called isotopic dilution of increased silicon problematic. Powell stressed that the company needs to “carefully design our systems and handling procedures” to maintain feedstock isotopic purity during silane and germane production.

To reduce the risks of working with automated control systems, PNNL developed safety protocols. These powerful controls monitor hundreds of process variables live. The device promptly informs operators if circumstances depart from precise target values, ensuring feedstock purity and worker safety.

Scientific Discovery Legacy

PNNL aims to address energy resilience and national security challenges with this achievement. Battelle's 1965-founded PNNL uses data science, biology, chemistry, and Earth sciences. The lab is funded by the DOE's Office of Science, the nation's largest fundamental physical science sponsor.

Silane and germane research are high-impact lab projects. PNNL also disclosed many major initiatives in early 2026, including the Genesis AI for Science program, which employs AI to further nuclear and biotechnology research. Six PNNL researchers received DOE Early Career Research Awards, demonstrating the lab's commitment to training future scientists.

Looking Ahead

The success of these purifying methods revolutionizes domestic quantum computing materials. PNNL and DOE are connecting raw enriched chemicals to high-purity gases for device manufacturing to lay the groundwork for future computing and autonomous systems.

K1 Semiconductor joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange to boost the US quantum supply chain and wafer technology.

US quantum supply chain

The Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) inducted K1 Semiconductor as a corporate partner. An innovative deep tech firm, K1 Semiconductor was founded at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Booth School of Business. This strategic alliance advances the development of a unique wafer-splitting process that will considerably boost semiconductor production cost-efficiency and scalability, a vital prerequisite for the rapidly increasing quantum technology sector and other deep tech businesses.

New wafer splitting technology transforms semiconductor production

Its base is wafer-splitting invention by K1 Semiconductor. This novel approach solves a fundamental problem in making diamond, silicon carbide, lithium niobate, and gallium nitride. These materials matter more for power electronics, AI infrastructure, quantum computing, and sensing.

K1 Semiconductor uses an accurate and repeatable splitting mechanism to reduce material loss, unlike previous methods that require harmful material removal, restrict reuse, and increase prices. The innovation's biggest benefit is 20x wafer reuse, albeit details are unavailable. Building a strong and cost-effective local manufacturing supply chain requires this considerable advance over conventional techniques. Cutting manufacturing waste and improving material use could lessen the barrier to advanced semiconductor manufacture.

Strategising with Chicago Quantum Exchange

K1 Semiconductor co-founder and CEO Connor Horn says joining the Chicago Quantum Exchange is strategic. To link advanced semiconductor material research with scalable, US production, the collaboration was created.

K1 will use the CQE Founder Platform to discover labs, employ top talent, and build strategic partnerships. This partnership will accelerate K1's crucial technology development and implementation as the company commercialises its wafer-reuse technologies and works with CQE partners in quantum devices, photonics, and sophisticated packaging.

K1 Semiconductor works with Great Lakes Crystal Technologies, a CQE corporate partner and diamond substrate manufacturer for quantum sensing and other applications, demonstrating synergy. This sustained cooperation is expected to accelerate the development and implementation of advanced quantum devices and sensors and benefit the CQE network immediately.

Strengthening Domestic Quantum Supply Chain

David Awschalom, Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and Physics at UChicago and founding director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, says this collaboration highlights the importance of Midwest businesses in building a robust domestic quantum supply chain. Awschalom says K1 shows how academics helped commercialise quantum technologies.

Kate Timmerman, CEO of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, explained that a scalable and sustainable quantum ecosystem requires highly qualified manufacturers and suppliers. K1's relationship with Great Lakes Crystal Technologies is a promising sign of the area's early but considerable attempts to develop the innovation pipeline that will enable US leadership in the growing quantum technology industry, she says.

An Innovation from the Midwest

K1 Semiconductor began at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. The firm placed second in the first University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Grainger Engineering Tech firm Challenge in July and the prestigious UChicago Polsky New Venture Challenge in June.

The Chicago Quantum Exchange, based at the University of Chicago, is a regional anchor supported by Purdue University, Northwestern University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. This regional network of over 50 corporate, international, nonprofit, and regional partners strengthens the Illinois-Wisconsin-Indiana quantum ecosystem's domestic quantum supply chains and academic commercialisation.