Delft-based startup to build Netherlands' first quantum chip factory
The Delft-based startup QuantWare is building the Netherlands’ first factory for quantum chips. The factory is set to be operational by the end of next year and will ultimately produce chips with 10,000 qubits - 100 times more than what is currently common, the Financieele Dagblad reported.
QuantWare is breaking “the boundaries that have stalled the quantum industry” with this new factory, CEO Matthijs Rijlaarsdam told FD. The company also hopes that the factory will give it a key position in the global market for the next generation of supercomputers.
Qubits are the smallest information particles used in quantum computers, comparable to bits in a conventional computer. The number of qubits is a rough measure of a quantum computer’s computing power. The retail price for a 10,000-qubit quantum chip will be approximately €50 million each, the Delft company estimates.
According to Rijlaarsdam, the 10,000-qubit chips will create an alternative to the current systems in which multiple smaller quantum chips are linked together. Current quantum chips typically cost no more than a few hundred thousand euros each, but you need at least 100 of them to get the same power as the chips QuantWare is planning to produce.
The quantum chip factory in Delft will cost tens of millions of euros. Part of this money comes from a recent €20 million investment round, which the European EIC Fund also supported.
