February 08, 2024 -- Oxford Ionics has won a £6 million contract to supply a quantum computer to the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) in Harwell, Oxfordshire. The NQCC is the UK’s national lab for quantum computing. Its goal is to accelerate the development of the UK’s quantum computing capabilities and infrastructure, to drive innovation and enhance UK capabilities in the sector.

Oxford Ionics will deliver the system, named “Quartet,” to the NQCC’s Harwell facility where the NQCC team will use it to develop applications with partners across academia, industry and government, and to carry out research and application development to inform their technology roadmap.

Quartet is a full-stack quantum computer housing one of Oxford Ionics’ trapped-ion quantum processor units (“QPUs”) at its heart. Scalability is core to the design of the Company’s quantum systems: all of Oxford Ionics’ quantum computers are field-upgradeable to QPUs powerful enough to solve world-changing problems.

All Oxford Ionics devices have complete connectivity between qubits, and use the qubit technology which has the lowest error rates ever demonstrated. Oxford Ionics chips are compatible with existing scalable fabrication (CMOS) techniques thanks to patented, integrated Electronic Qubit Control (EQC) system and ground-breaking control architecture. Oxford Ionics has partnered with Infineon Technologies to fabricate its devices in commercial semiconductor foundries.

This will be the fifth quantum computer built by Oxford Ionics. The Company’s first four systems are located in its Oxford headquarters and available through the cloud to select partners. Oxford Ionics is excited to deliver its first on-premise quantum computer and the NQCC is an ideal partner for that.