Quantum computing startup ZuriQ gets $25.5M to scale 2D trapped-ion processor design

Quantum computing startup ZuriQ gets $25.5M to scale 2D trapped-ion processor design Investors are throwing money at quantum computers again, with the Swiss startup ZuriQ AG becoming the latest beneficiary of their largesse after closing on a $25.5 million seed funding round. The investment was led by Quantonation and saw the participation of Forward.one, Extantia, Firgun Ventures and all of the startup’s existing backers, building on a previously undisclosed $4.2 million pre-seed round that closed when it spun out of ETH Zürich last year. ZuriQ is the latest in a long line of startups trying to solve the problem of scaling quantum computers, which continues to befuddle some of the world’s brightest minds. The problem is that the fundamental building blocks of quantum computers, known as “qubits,” are extremely sensitive to environmental noise. Qubits are so sensitive, in fact, that even something as faint as the vibration caused by a pin dropping on the floor could be enough to disrupt their state, leading to errors in quantum calculations. Trapped-ion systems have long been positioned as a potential solution to the problem of qubit instability, yet the companies that have attempted to build them have struggled to achieve the scale required to build systems large enough to perform meaningful calculations. According to ZuriQ’s co-founder and Chief Executive Dr. Pavel Hrmo, the reason is that they’re still reliant on a legacy architecture that was first proposed over two decades ago. He explained that these legacy designs are based on ions held in one-dimensional, single-file chains stitched into large grids using complex junctions. But this architecture severely restricts their ability to scale. As such, trapped-ion systems have only been able to grow one qubit at a time, preventing anyone from creating the thousands of qubits needed to build a commercially viable quantum computer. “The trapped-ion companies that started the race began with one-dimensional designs that were useful stepping-stones, but the real challenge is whether they can successfully pivot to two dimensions as they attempt to scale,” Hrmo said. “We spent longer in the lab, and that time allowed us to identify an alternative route that is inherently easier to scale. Our architecture is two-dimensional from the ground up, so the number of qubits we can place on a chip will grow far more readily than in systems built on a legacy blueprint.” ZuriQ’s processors are instead based on two-dimensional designs. Instead of using the rapidly oscillating fields found in conventional systems, it uses Penning micro-traps combined with a static magnetic field, allowing its trapped ions to move freely in any direction, without the constraints imposed by the complex junctions essential to one-dimensional architectures. Because ZuriQ’s architecture is natively 2D, it means it can grow its qubit count across the entire surface area of a chip, as opposed to only growing in a straight line. Professor Jonathan Home of ETH Zürich, a scientific adviser to ZuriQ, said the secret sauce behind the startup’s approach is geometry. “Hold ions in a line and the count grows one at a time; hold them in two dimensions, and it grows with the area of the chip — on a standard chip, that is the difference between tens of ions and many thousands,” he said. “Just as important, the ions can be moved freely in three dimensions, so they can be connected together far more flexibly, and that connectivity is what ultimately makes a quantum computer more capable.” Given that scale is the primary challenge ZuriQ wants to solve, it’s no surprise that its overriding focus now is to show that it can actually scale its 2D trapped-ion qubit architecture. So far, the company has already developed a working prototype to demonstrate its technology. It built a three-by-three array of nine individually controlled ions, fabricating it in collaboration with a company called Infineon AG using established chipmaking processes to show that it’s possible. Going forward, the startup now wants to show it can dramatically increase the number of ions on a chip and develop a processor that can host hundreds and later even thousands of qubits. To that end, the funds from today’s round will be directed towards advancing its research, scaling its chip fabrication operators and hiring more experts from rivals in the quantum computing industry. Quantonation’s founding partner Christophe Jurczak said that many people are of the opinion that the winners of the quantum computing race are already known, when the truth is that it’s far from settled. “ZuriQ is demonstrating that there remain significant and transformational physics breakthroughs still to be made in quantum architectures,” he insisted. 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