QuantumCore Develops Multiplexing Microchips for Quantum Computing

QuantumCore Ltd., a company focused on building hardware infrastructure for next-generation quantum computing systems, has announced the commencement of development on a third critical technology: multiplexing microchips. These chips are designed to significantly reduce the number of physical interconnects required between room-temperature control electronics and quantum processing units (QPUs), addressing a major bottleneck in the scaling of quantum computers.

The development program, which expands QuantumCore's strategy of building essential hardware within the infrastructure layer between the quantum controller and the QPU, is part of the company's broader mission to support the scaling of quantum computing systems. Alongside its superconducting quantum amplifier technology and single-photon detector platform, the multiplexing microchips represent another potentially essential enabling technology as quantum computers scale from hundreds and thousands of physical qubits toward systems containing hundreds of thousands and ultimately one million physical qubits.

QuantumCore has entered into a Sponsored Research Agreement with the University of Waterloo, covering cryogenic multiplexing for quantum computer applications. The program is led by Professor Raafat Mansour, a leading expert in microwave engineering and radio-frequency (RF) integrated circuits, with significant previous work focused on advanced switching technologies and the development of superconducting and cryogenic RF devices.

Professor Mansour's research has already developed other types of advanced Phase Change Material (PCM) switches and a wide range of RF superconducting circuits, providing an established technology and engineering foundation for the new cryogenic program. QuantumCore intends to advance and optimize these technologies for scalable quantum computing applications, with the goal of developing commercial prototypes within the next 12 months.

The research program identifies the cryogenic wiring interconnect bottleneck as one of the primary obstacles to scaling quantum hardware. Conventional one-wire-per-qubit approaches are expected to become impractical for million-qubit systems due to thermal, physical, and bandwidth constraints. QuantumCore believes cryogenic multiplexing could fundamentally change this architecture by allowing control and readout infrastructure to be shared and intelligently routed among multiple qubits, dramatically reducing the number of cables, connectors, and feedthroughs that would otherwise be required as superconducting quantum processors scale.

Professor Mansour is one of Canada's leading experts in microwave engineering and RF integrated circuits, with an exceptional track record of translating university research into commercial technologies. He is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, a former Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Micro-Nano Integrated RF Systems, and served two consecutive terms as the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in RF Technologies. Mansour has been awarded 41 Canadian and U.S. patents and authored more than 475 peer-reviewed technical publications.

The collaboration between QuantumCore and Professor Mansour is expected to build on existing work in Professor Mansour's laboratory, which has developed other types of advanced PCM switches and a wide range of RF superconducting circuits, providing an established technology and engineering foundation for the new cryogenic program. The research plan states that PCM switches offer a figure of merit that significantly surpasses state-of-the-art RF CMOS and RF MEMS technologies, making them an outstanding candidate for large-scale cryogenic switch matrices in future quantum computing platforms.

QuantumCore's strategy is to develop a portfolio of technologies addressing critical bottlenecks surrounding the QPU rather than attempting to build the quantum computer itself. PCM multiplexing would occupy an important position within that superconducting infrastructure stack, enabling signals to be routed at cryogenic temperatures and potentially significantly reducing the number of physical connections that have to travel through the refrigerator.

The company believes this creates an opportunity to bridge two critical parts of the emerging quantum hardware ecosystem: advanced cryogenic switching technology and the physical interconnect infrastructure required to connect increasingly large quantum processors.