On April 15, PsiQuantum announced a $10.8M contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Rome, N.Y., continuing a partnership that began in 2022. This phase will give AFRL a design space for comparative quantum circuits on PsiQuantum’s circuit tapeout, part of its ongoing Omega quantum chipset manufacturing with GlobalFoundries.
As AFRL’s hardware design partner, PsiQuantum will supply its high-performance Barium Titanate (BTO) Electro-Optic phase shifters and integrate BTO into AFRL-designed optical circuits. PsiQuantum’s 300mm BTO material is believed to be the world’s highest-performing electro-switch material. The company will also provide essential quantum circuit components. Once designed, constructed, and screened for performance, the company will deliver these completed chips to AFRL, who will then validate their capabilities to address other Air Force use cases.
“The team at AFRL has long understood the value of cutting-edge silicon photonics, and we are grateful to continue our work with the lab to deliver our state-of-the-art quantum chip capabilities to the U.S. Air Force,” said Professor Jeremy O’Brien, PsiQuantum co-founder and CEO. “This partnership will enable PsiQuantum to share our technology, which is manufactured in a world-class, high-volume semiconductor fab, with AFRL to validate and explore future applications that would benefit the U.S. Air Force. As the global race for utility-scale quantum computing continues, this kind of collaboration could not be more important, and we’re thrilled to be able to partner with technical leaders across the U.S. government who share our vision.”
“Ongoing advancements from our industry partners in fault-tolerant quantum computing, and the expertise in silicon photonics, are proving to be a significant asset to our mission. We are not only observing promising developments in quantum information science but are also playing a proactive role in enhancing the national security landscape through these emerging capabilities,” said Dr. Michael Hayduk, deputy director at AFRL Information Directorate.
PsiQuantum is the global leader in photonic quantum computing, and in February announced Omega, a quantum photonic chipset purpose-built for utility-scale quantum computing. Featured in a newly published paper in Nature, the chipset contains all the advanced components required to build million-qubit-scale quantum computers and deliver on the profoundly world-changing promise of the technology.
Source: PsiQuantum
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