Quantum News Briefs November 21: Quantum Computing, Inc. Announces Second Purchase Order for TFLN Photonic Chip Foundry from UT Austin • Quantum Rings Achieves Breakthrough in Large-Scale Quantum Circuit Simulation • Quantum-Si Expands Collaboration with SkyWater to Develop New Chip Production Process Critical for Groundbreaking New Proteomics Platform • Lightsynq Comes Out of Stealth with $18M in Series A Funding to Scale Quantum Computing •

Sandra Helsel

8 hours ago

Quantum Computing, Inc. Announces Second Purchase Order for TFLN Photonic Chip Foundry from University of Texas at Austin

This announcement follows QCi’s recent news of securing its first order for its TFLN photonic chip foundry from a prominent research and technology institute based in Asia. The QCi Foundry will be devoted to processing TFLN and other transition metal ferroelectrics in Tempe, Arizona. The facility remains on track to begin production in Q1 2025, positioning QCi as a leader in the high-performance, TFLN-based optical chip market.
The order will enable the University to advance chip-scale acoustic and cross-domain microsystems, utilizing the scalable industrial processes provided by the QCi Foundry. As part of this order, QCi will leverage its standard TFLN processing recipes to facilitate a custom fabrication run tailored to the needs of the University’s research group. This collaboration lays the groundwork for further expanding the use of TFLN into applications that extend into micro electromechanical systems, further establishing TFLN’s potential as a versatile material system and a key enabler for the next-generation photonics market and beyond.

Quantum Rings Achieves Breakthrough in Large-Scale Quantum Circuit Simulation

Quantum Rings, a leader in quantum computing developer tools, announced on November 20 its latest study, Effective Simulation of Sycamore Circuits. This research demonstrates the Quantum Rings SDK’s ability to simulate extremely complex quantum circuits, including those used in Google’s quantum supremacy experiment, on standard hardware with 32GB of memory. This breakthrough allows researchers and enterprises to advance quantum projects ahead of large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers.
The study shows that Quantum Rings achieves high-fidelity simulations, measured using linear cross-entropy benchmarking (XEB). It delivers an average XEB score of 0.678 across Google’s circuits, with a score of 0.622 for the most complex 53-qubit circuit, surpassing the accuracy of published results running the same test on physical quantum systems. This positions the SDK as a vital tool for building and testing large-scale quantum algorithms on standard hardware.
Read the full paper at https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.12131

Quantum-Si Expands Collaboration with SkyWater to Develop New Chip Production Process Critical for Groundbreaking New Proteomics Platform

Quantum-Si Incorporated (Nasdaq: QSI), The Protein Sequencing Company and SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT), the trusted technology realization partner, have announced they will jointly expand their relationship to support the development of Proteus, Quantum-Si’s next-generation platform designed to transform proteomic research. The expanded collaboration will develop the consumable for Proteus that will enable simultaneous large factor, protein sequencing with unparalleled accuracy.
Quantum-Si and SkyWater began partnering in 2021 on the first-generation Platinum® platform and announced transition to support production in the second quarter of 2024. SkyWater will continue to supply the consumables for the Platinum Pro product as the two companies expand their engagement to support commercialization of Proteus.
This cutting-edge solution is set to redefine proteomics with unprecedented output per sample, application flexibility and automation. By combining Quantum-Si’s expertise in biotechnology with SkyWater’s Technology as a Service (TaaS) manufacturing capabilities, the collaboration is poised to drive significant advancements in protein sequencing and to the field of proteomics.
Leveraging its custom process development and robust manufacturing capabilities, SkyWater enables the unique technological needs of microfluidic biomedical devices from proof of concept to final qualification. Embracing a TaaS model, SkyWater facilitates early collaboration with system engineers and device designers, developing technology within a production environment. This approach expedites time-to-market, ensures quality from inception, and seamlessly scales to meet volume production demands.
SkyWater holds certification to the ISO 13485 Quality Standard for Medical Devices, affirming its ability to support the design, development, and fabrication of biomedical applications.

Lightsynq Comes Out of Stealth with $18M in Series A Funding to Scale Quantum Computing

Lightsynq Technologies Inc., a startup developing quantum interconnect technology solutions for commercial use, announced it has raised approximately $18 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Cerberus Ventures, the venture investing platform of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Cerberus), with participation from Murata Electronics North America Inc., IAG Capital Partners, Safar Partners, QVT, Element Six and In-Q-Tel (IQT).
Founded by former Harvard quantum networking experts and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Center for Quantum Networking leaders, Dr. Mihir Bhaskar (CEO), Dr. Bart Machielse (CTO) and Dr. David Levonian (CPO), Lightsynq is developing state-of-the-art optical quantum interconnects that enable hardware providers to link quantum processors. Lightsynq’s technology will help solve the core challenge of linking together individual quantum computers into a broader network, overcoming the limitations of single system scaling.
The funds will be used to build Lightsynq’s quantum interconnect technology, which is based on color centers in diamond photonic devices, combining a leading quantum networking platform with scalable photonic fabrication. This proprietary solution will provide a pathway to foundry-scale production of quantum interconnects, enabling more usable qubits across networks and accelerating wider industrial and commercial applications of quantum computing.