ATIQ - Trapped-Ion Quantum Computer for Applications

With increasing amounts of digital data and complex calculations, today's computers are reaching the limits of their processing power. In contrast, quantum computers, in which individual qubits represent information, can perform similar tasks in a relatively efficient manner. The applications for those quantum computers include quantum chemistry, optimisation problems, simulations or even credit risk assignments. To create a Qubit, superconducting device, defects in crystal structures or atoms or ions held in isolation are needed.

In this project, ion traps are used in which the ions are irradiated with short laser pulses to specifically change the stored information. The quantum processors with trapped ions have the advantage that they provide continuous connectivity (i.e. good connection to further components), as well as gate operations and coherence times with the highest reliability.

Within the framework of ATIQ, reliable complementary quantum computer demonstrators with trapped ions are to be developed for relevant use cases. In principle, today's trapped ion processor architectures are scalable to obtain the number of Qubits required to solve such problems. However, there are still three major technological challenges that ATIQ will address:

alignment-free optical preparation, manipulation and readout.
real-time control and automation
reliable trap-integrated cryogenic electronics and reliable trap technology.

Together with a hardware-software co-design strategy aimed at tailoring the algorithms and compilers to the characteristics of the NISQ hardware and optimising the hardware architecture for specific algorithms, ATIQ will provide the QC demonstrators to address relevant applications.

To achieve this, ATIQ forms a collaboration between leading industrial users, globally renowned academic quantum computer integrators, who build on the developments of ongoing projects, and industrial developers of key technologies. This is to realise quantum processor demonstrators with a level of technological maturity that enables reliable 24/7 operation in an industrially relevant environment.

The ion traps produced by microtechnological methods will form the common basis of the quantum processor topologies. These will then be combined with commercially available and newly developed subcomponents to produce a first generation of three complementary NISQ demonstrators with 10 Qubits. These Qubits are intended to provide 24/7 user accessibility and >99% accuracy in all-to-all gate operation, including hybrid computing capabilities through a connection to HPC. In parallel, ATIQ shall develop the integration of Qubit control into the ion traps to achieve a reliable and scalable architecture for tens to hundreds of Qubits as required for large-scale applications. This includes on-chip digital-to-analogue converters, electronic components, optical fibres and integrated micro-optical systems for preparing, initialising, cooling and reading optical Qubits, and finally addressable Qubit operations at the chip level. For this purpose, ATIQ will develop scalable multi-layer multi-chip modules that enable the reliable integration of all required functions.

Another goal of the consortium is to establish a complete ion-based quantum computer system in Germany. This includes the formation of a supply chain for key technologies as well as the eventual founding of start-up companies from the participating university institutes that will bring this technology to market as future commercial system integrators.

ATIQ is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Project page of the BMBF.

Head of the consortium:
Prof. Dr. Christian Ospelkaus, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany

Project partners:

AMO GmbH, Aachen, Germany

AKKA Industry Consulting GmbH, Sindelfingen, Germany

Black Semiconductor GmbH, Aachen, Germany

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany

eleQtron GmbH, Siegen, Germany

FiberBridge Photonics GmbH, Hannover, Germany

Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik ILT, Aachen, Germany

Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Optik und Feinmechanik IOF, Jena, Germany