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QuiX, a photonics spinoff company of the University of Twente, announced the first sale of its innovative quantum photonic processor. The first customer is Qontrol in the UK, a leading company in photonics research.
Quantum photonic processors are the core of a quantum computer that works with light. In future, quantum computers will be used for data processing, especially in problems that conventional supercomputers can’t deal with anymore. A quantum computer can be built using ‘qubits’ operating at very low temperatures. Light, with photons as quantum bits, is an alternative: a processor then uses the quantum properties of photons and may even operate at room temperature.
QuiX, which was founded by the photonics research groups of the University of Twente together with the existing LioniX spinoff company, is currently developing processors for quantum processing and simulation. By using the LioniX technology platform TriPleX, QuiX can now build large-scale and fully reconfigurable photonic processors with low losses. They are transparent for all available light sources. Last December, QuiX announced a quantum photonic processor of record size, with 12 inputs and 12 outputs.
Qontrol, in Bristol, develops control electronics and infrastructures for complex, massive, multichannel photonic integrated circuits. These ‘PIC’s’ is used in telecom, but also in fundamental research. Qontrol’s components are in many research labs all over the world. Jelmer Renema, CTO of QuiX and researcher at UT’s Centre for Quantum Nanotechnology Twente (QUANT) said that it is great news for QuiX, as Qontrol is one of the leading companies in quantum photonics in Europe.
Qontrol's CTO Dr Josh Silverstone said that using this chip in their labs, they can now better understand and guide their clients. It will be a fantastic tool for demonstrating what their own components are capable of. Thanks to the possibility of using visible light, he expects that great live demos will be possible.