(SpectrumIEEE) Researchers at Google, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the University of California Santa Barbara reported making a key control circuit in CMOS that will work at cryogenic temperatures. It is the first disclosed instance of a CMOS cryogenic quantum control IC interacting with real qubits.
One of the big limiters to today’s quantum computing systems is that while their superconducting qubits live in a cryogenic enclosure at less than 1 kelvin, all the control and readout circuits must be at room temperature. Quantum computer engineers want to bring some of the electronics inside the cryogenic fridge. An ultra-low power cryogenic IC would help quantum computers scale up.
Other big players in quantum computing, such as IBM and Intel, may be working on similar systems but they have not yet revealed their cryogenic ICs.