#singlefluxquantum

SEEQC, ITRI Form Landmark Alliance to Secure Global Quantum Chip Supply Chain

ITRI Industrial Technology Research Institute

SEEQC, a digital quantum computing company, has signed a major manufacturing agreement with Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to improve the worldwide advanced computing supply chain. This partnership aims to build a cutting-edge superconducting electronic chip production line. This project aims to build a cutting-edge production line for SEEQC's Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) superconducting control chips. A dispersed and robust supply chain for cutting-edge superconducting and quantum technology is the purpose of this strategic alliance.

The partnership boosts SEEQC's chip-based, fully digital quantum computing platform's scalability. The critical SFQ digital control chips are being manufactured on a new line for high yield. These devices are necessary for fault-tolerant, scalable quantum computers.

Critical Role of SFQ Superconducting Control Chips Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) superconducting control chips directly integrate classical control tasks with the quantum processor at the chip-scale, making them essential to SEEQC. This integration method reduces quantum system complexity, I/O count, cost, and latency.

These components must function effectively in severe quantum processing settings. SFQ devices operate at cryogenic temperatures, which qubits require. In this environment, processors perform critical control functions with little power and latency.

Tasks performed by SFQ devices determine quantum computer functionality. The readout, which measures qubit state, and precise temporal control ensure synchronous quantum element functioning. Second, the devices conduct complex quantum computation error correction logic. Error-correction logic is essential for fault-tolerant quantum computing. SFQ architecture enabled multiplexing, one of its most important achievements. Multiplexing lets processors mix control signals on one line.

By lowering wiring and system complexity, this feature eliminates a common scaling bottleneck for quantum systems. SEEQC controls an 8-qubit module with two wires, proving this technology works. This is far better than traditional quantum systems, which require many more connections per qubit.

Strategic Manufacturing Growth and Technology Transfer

The SEEQC-ITRI collaboration leverages both organisations' expertise. The cooperation combines SEEQC's patented SFQ chip design with ITRI's thirty years of advanced semiconductor technology experience to optimise large-scale manufacture and deployment. Shih-Chieh Chang, Vice President and General Director at ITRI, said the collaboration lets ITRI apply its process experience to a digital quantum architecture designed for deployment and large-scale manufacturing. The initial phase involves rigorous process development and vital technology transfer.

The dedicated SEEQC Research and Development team will provide the technology needed to build the new line. After the manufacturing process line is operational and production begins, the chips will be sent to SEEQC's US headquarters. After shipment, SEEQC's cutting-edge testing facilities will pair the chips with qubits for thorough testing.

This manufacturing capability strategically strengthens SEEQC's manufacturing base. The company maintains a chip foundry and R&D centre in Elmsford, New York. SEEQC may considerably enhance its manufacturing capacity by developing this skill with a dependable partner like ITRI. SEEQC Chief Technical Officer Shu-Jen Han says this partnership with a dependable partner is crucial to diversifying production.

This action aims to provide safe access to cutting-edge superconducting equipment for American and worldwide clients. Mr. Han noted that this action widens SEEQC's production base for local and foreign clients and improves its New York chip facility. The ultimate goals of this strategic expansion are to lower operational costs, provide a constant supply of crucial components, and accelerate commercial quantum computing.

Supporting High-Profile Quantum Initiatives

The ITRI alliance's improved manufacturing capability will benefit SEEQC's well-known collaborations and projects. SEEQC is participating in DARPA-funded Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) Phase B. The company also works with NVIDIA and the UK's National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC). As part of the DARPA QBI, SEEQC and IBM are investigating hybrid quantum–classical supercomputing and scalable quantum error correction utilizing their digital SFQ-based control architecture.

Multi-Million Dollar Collaboration Between SkyWater Technology and QuamCore to Fabricate Digital Superconducting Controllers Accelerates Scalable Quantum Computing

SkyWater Technology News

SkyWater Technology, the biggest US-based dedicated semiconductor foundry, has partnered with QuamCore, a deep-tech company creating a groundbreaking superconducting quantum processor architecture. A multi-million dollar contract underpins this strategic cooperation, which focusses on cooperatively researching and manufacturing Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) devices to accelerate the development of large-scale quantum computing.

The integration of QuamCore's unique SFQ-based control architecture with SkyWater's reliable U.S. manufacturing capabilities underpins this alliance. This partnership is expected to lay the groundwork for scalable quantum systems. QuamCore's strategy to develop a superconducting quantum computer with one million qubits changed with this agreement.

Quantum's Main Bottlenecks

The partnership aims to co-engineer a superconducting fabrication technology best for directly integrating SFQ digital control circuits with qubit arrays. This integration uses SkyWater's expertise in design enablement tools, process integration, and superconducting process modules. The coordination aims to maximise wafer-scale device yield, uniformity, and cryogenic performance.

Ultra-low-power, high-speed control allows the SFQ technology to work natively at cryogenic temperatures as low as 10mK. Ultra-low-temperature operation is necessary because the SFQ control method directly addresses wiring density, heat load, and system complexity, which restrict quantum system scalability.

According to QuamCore CEO Alon Cohen, the collaboration “accelerates our journey towards practical, large-scale quantum computing”. SkyWater's extensive superconducting process understanding and QuamCore's cutting-edge SFQ-based control technologies are helping “build the foundation for a truly scalable quantum system.”

Significant Tech Benefits

Integrated SFQ control promise improvements over present quantum system methods. Businesses' public information highlights several major benefits:

Compared to standard quantum structure control approaches, integrated SFQ control may reduce cabling by 1,000 times.

SFQ-based controllers should dissipate many orders of magnitude less power than similar CMOS technologies. Through a novel superconducting processor design, QuamCore runs at the challenging 10mK temperature by integrating ultra-low-power digital logic close to the qubits. This architecture-first technique aims to enable large-scale, commercially viable quantum computing by overcoming thermal and physical constraints that limit currently available quantum computers.

SkyWater's domestic, quantum-ready manufacturing and foundry expertise will accelerate QuamCore's journey from prototype to scale production.

Timeline & Executive View

SkyWater CEO Thomas Sonderman confirmed the company's earliest commitment to this industry. He stated SkyWater's mission as “to enable breakthrough technologies through advanced trusted U.S. manufacturing”. Sonderman said the relationship with QuamCore shows how their foundry skills may enable “the next generation of quantum systems operating at the deepest cryogenic levels.”

Collaboration goals have been outlined. Within 12–18 months, collaborative development milestones should be met. Developing test vehicles and demonstrating cryo-SFQ control chips were early successes.

American Silicon Foundation Security: SkyWater

NASDAQ ticker SKYT, SkyWater Technology is essential to the local semiconductor business. The firm is a trustworthy partner for government defence projects and private clients. SkyWater helps innovators like quantum computing researchers turn their ideas into products utilising a specific Technology as a Service (TaaS) approach.

SkyWater maintains Texas, Florida, and Minnesota modern facilities. Besides CMOS, Heterogenous Integration, MEMS, Photonics & Custom, and Rad-Hard solutions, the foundry works on superconducting technologies, fundamental nodes, and innovative packaging. Domestic presence strengthens the company's position in “securing America’s silicon foundation” and maintaining U.S. technological leadership and supply chain resilience. SkyWater is DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Foundry.

Given its concentration on control design, QuamCore is well-suited to provide fault-tolerant, million-qubit systems. QuamCore aims to massively scale quantum computing by solving thermal and physical limits in current designs. Our relationship with SkyWater brings QuamCore closer to that goal.

Single Flux Quantum Logic

Compact, lightweight error-correcting codes improve superconducting circuit reliability.

They developed compact, light error-correction codes for superconducting electronic circuits, a crucial step towards more reliable and effective quantum and cryogenic computing systems. Data transported from extremely cold superconducting conditions to room-temperature electronics is prone to multiple bit errors. This innovation eliminates this problem. Under the guidance of Yerzhan Mustafa and Selçuk Köse from the University of Rochester and Berker Peköz from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) logic is used to develop and build three new encoders based on Reed-Muller and Hamming codes. Their research shows how to maintain data integrity within superconducting circuits' size and power constraints, enabling more dependable advanced computing systems.

Challenge: Fragile Data in Extreme Conditions Superconducting electronic circuits, notably SFQ logic ones, operate under difficult conditions. Integrating SFQ logic with warmer electronics is challenging, despite its high switching frequencies (tens to hundreds of GHz) and low energy consumption (10⁻¹⁹ J per switch). Data transfer from an SFQ device to a 50–300 K CMOS chip often causes bit errors. Problems include process parameter variations (PPV) during fabrication, manufacturing defects, and flux trapping. Due to the delicate nature of these circuits, even little changes can cause data corruption, sometimes depicted as swings in circuit characteristics of ±20% to ±30%. In addition, superconducting system error-correction code encoders are heavily limited by cooling power and chip area. Traditional information theory studies asymptotic message length codes and computationally intensive decoding methods. Mission-critical embedded systems like superconducting logic need lightweight error-correcting codes tailored for short blocklengths due to latency, power, and hardware constraints. Due to their low integration density, superconducting circuits are often implemented in 8-bit design, which limits cryogenic cable and input/output/bias pin heat load. Due of these issues, circuit-level mitigation methods that reduce wires and circuit area overhead are needed. Customised Lightweight Codes The researchers focused on three lightweight error-correction code encoders to solve these issues: Hamming (7,4) Hamming (8,4) Reed-Muller (1,3) In 1950, Richard Hamming introduced the first class of non-trivial, scalable, and perfect single-error-correcting codes. They have a syndrome decoding concept that directly locates the defect, reducing decoding complexity. Researchers employed an extended Hamming(8,4) code, which adds a parity bit to the Hamming(7,4) code, to improve error detection. The minimum distance is adjusted from 3 to 4, allowing reliable identification of all 2- and 3-bit mistakes while preserving single-error correction. Reed-Muller codes, invented separately in 1954 by Irving Reed and David Muller, may correct 2-bit error patterns and provide a recursive structure for scalable hardware implementation. Simulation and Implementation of SFQ Logic The encoders used SFQ logic, which represents information using voltage pulses from switching Josephson junctions (JJs). Because all logic gates (AND, OR, XOR, and NOT) need a clock signal, SFQ logic design requires specific considerations. Balanced data channels with DFF cells are needed for accurate timing. Since SFQ logic gates have a fan-out of one, SFQ splitter circuits must drive several logic cells. The Hamming(8,4) code encoder was built by multiplying a 4-bit message by a modulo 2 matrix to form an 8-bit codeword. The circuit configuration for the Hamming(8,4) encoder, which uses SFQ splitters and DFFs to balance data paths, showed that codeword bits are created after two clock cycles in 5 GHz simulations. The full performance evaluation uses JoSIM SPICE simulator and MATLAB. To accurately simulate production defects, simulations used process parameter variations (PPV) of up to ±20%. MATLAB decoded output voltage waveforms from encoders fed a 4-bit random message. This arrangement sent 100 random PPV messages via the encoder circuit 1000 times to cover variance values. Key Results: Hamming(8,4) Balances Best The simulation results were convincing. A system without error correction had 80.0% chance of sending 100 messages correctly. After installing encoders, this improved: Reed-Muller(1,3): 86.7% error-free. Hamming(7,4): 89.8% error-free. Hamming(8,4): 92.7% likelihood of zero mistakes, the highest error correction of the tested codes.

SEEQC Quantum

IBM and energy-efficient and scalable quantum technology provider SEEQC formed a strategic relationship. This vital relationship is part of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative. IBM and SEEQC will test their cutting-edge quantum systems architecture and Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) chip-based control layer technologies. This research aims to greatly advance large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computing by directly addressing system control, performance, and energy consumption challenges.

SFQ Technology Advances Quantum Control

A novel approach to quantum system design, SEEQC's SFQ technologies reduce and combine the often cumbersome external racks of standard control hardware. This important technical development is aimed by shifting crucial classical control components to a tiny system-on-a-chip. Importantly, this integrated gadget will work alongside quantum devices in a dilution refrigerator's extremely cold environment. This unique integration advances the building of highly efficient quantum computing systems by allowing classical control to function directly alongside quantum components.

SEEQC CEO and co-founder John Levy believes its “leading SFQ chip-based digital control technology improves the energy efficiency and functionality of quantum computing systems,” making this move notable. He added the company wants to “build on team’s research” in this area.

The cooperation asks SEEQC to investigate how its SFQ control circuits might substantially reduce energy consumption and improve performance in emerging quantum systems. Energy efficiency is crucial to quantum computing's sustainability and scalability. SEEQC is researching and creating next-generation quantum control systems that skilfully mix classical and quantum components on a chip to boost performance and make quantum technologies more broadly available and environmentally friendly.

IBM's Quantum Computing Fault-Tolerance Roadmap

IBM is committed to its ambitious IBM Quantum Development Roadmap and SEEQC's creative control technology development. A large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029 is the ultimate goal of this comprehensive method. Jay Gambetta, IBM Fellow and Vice President of IBM Quantum, acknowledged the engineering challenges of building and managing such complex systems.

He called “controlling and scaling large-scale quantum systems” a “difficult engineering problem with many unresolved research questions.” Gambetta said IBM wants to “collaborate with SEEQC, investigate these questions, and accelerate the progress towards 2029 goal,” emphasising the necessity for teamwork to handle quantum computing challenges. Thus, this alliance emphasises the shared commitment to solving some of the most difficult quantum field concerns and accelerating the creation of practical quantum machines.

Supporting NY's Quantum Ecosystem

Despite their global presence, SEEQC and IBM's strategic cooperation is rooted in New York State's vibrant quantum ecosystem. Concentrating expertise here is a major benefit. IBM and energy-efficient and scalable quantum technology pioneer SEEQC announced a strategic relationship. U.S. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency  Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) includes this vital collaboration. IBM's cutting-edge quantum systems architecture and SEEQC's SFQ chip-based control layer technologies will be tested.The region's substantial mutual presence in New York State shows its rising quantum technology expertise.

Deborah Novick, NY QUANTUM Consortium co-lead and Westchester County Office of Economic Development director, stressed the importance of this relationship. She said the alliance “demonstrates the strength of the ecosystem of expertise in quantum information sciences in Westchester County and New York State.” Novick said he was delighted about the two organisations' collaboration to “help advance quantum computing as part of DARPA’s QBI,” noting the region’s economic relevance and quantum technology benefits.

IBM and SEEQC's partnership shows how New York's quantum ecosystem contributes across the "commercialisation continuum"—basic research, specialised chip manufacturing, complex system integration, and real-world quantum solution implementation.

Joint initiatives between SEEQC and IBM align with DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI). This initiative is crucial to DARPA's strategic goal of developing precise and reliable performance measurements to assist develop realistic and useful quantum computers. By answering key domestic and international questions that traditional computing cannot, quantum computers are intended to help.

SEEQC and IBM's collaboration has helped the U.S. government create large-scale quantum computing capabilities. This collaborative paradigm, rooted in the New York quantum ecosystem, promotes innovation from basic research to commercial application to ensure U.S. quantum leadership.