QCAUX ACCELERATOR PROJECT
The QCAUX project will mature the QDevil beta electronics and validate them inside DRs. The mature QCAUX electronics control, monitor and characterise prototype quantum processors, and will completely outclass the inadequate and non-standard hardware that QC R&D has to use. QDevil and QCAUX will become the state of the art in electronics for QC experimentation inside DRs. Rapid commercialisation will be achieved by the full implementation of our Feasibility Study, beginning in Q2-2020: 1 – implement the technical and hardware changes into the four QCAUX devices: 2 – pilot and validate QCAUX to test and characterise multiple quantum processors in an operational DR. Piloting will be undertaken with several partners in Denmark, UK and USA. 3 – complete the Business Innovation Plan and Commercialisation Plan (BIP and CP) for implementation after the Accelerator is completed. QDevil has set out a series of Specific Objectives which cover technology maturation, validation, and commercial readiness activities.
EU SOCIETAL AND INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITY
The European sector for electronic instruments was worth €61.5bn in turnover in 2012 with a long-term growth rate of 3% per annum. It has withstood the impact of the Asian economies far better than many other sectors of the electronics engineering and manufacturing because it is deeply integrated into the world economy and because over 50% of its turnover comes from non-EU markets. Its products find wide application in many major industries downstream – as is the case with QCAUX and QC research end users . It needs very highly trained personnel and salaries are correspondingly high. The Strategic Research Agenda of Manufuture Platform is urging the entire European manufacturing industry to re-invent itself by moving away from low-cost products and towards a dynamic creation of knowledge based added-value patentable industrial products and processes. High value complex products manufactured with utmost quality like QCAUX are exactly the sort of innovation that aligns with the EU’s broader goals for manufacturing.
OUR SOLUTION
QCAUX is a system of four standardised, interoperable and interconnected auxiliary electronic devices for testing experimental and prototype quantum processors. QCAUX is a link between the operating classical computer at room temperature and the quantum processor under test when anchored inside the DR and cooled to millikelvin temperatures. It contains a digital-analogue converter for producing complex waveform signals, a breakout box for giving individual control over each of the signal channels, an RF filter which eliminates noise from the signal channels, and a sample holder into which a prototype processor is mounted. The present specification of each auxiliary device is given below.
