QFoundry aims to deliver a national open-access quantum semiconductor device foundry. It will create the foundations for robust, scalable component manufacture in the UK to enable the scaling of a quantum technology system industry.
The project brings together the UK’s most established supply chains to address critical challenges in device manufacturing and develop key technology platforms for accelerating the uptake of quantum applications.
Initial projects for the foundry model include Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) for commercial grade atomic clocks and atomic magnetometers, and single-photon emitters and detectors for quantum communications, computing, imaging and sensing applications.
Several ground-breaking applications have emerged in the past decade, but market adoption of quantum systems has been held back by the lack of widely available quantum photonic components, referred to as QPCs.
Widescale adoption of quantum technologies needs cost effective QPC components that can only be achieved through the innovative economies of scale for which the semiconductor industry is well known.
The foundry concept is an essential cornerstone in bringing quantum technologies to mass-volume markets.
