September 18, 2024 -- The Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur) has today signed contracts with three international technology companies to develop mobile quantum computers. With an investment of over 35 million euros, this project marks a milestone in quantum research and lays the foundation for new fields of application for quantum computers. The aim is to enable mobile use in security and defence scenarios as well as in civilian applications.

The contracts for a pioneering research project for the development of mobile quantum computers were signed today at the headquarters of the Cyberagentur in Halle (Saale). The three international technology companies and consortia, neQxt GmbH, Oxford Ionics Limited together with Infineon Technologies AG, and Quantum Brilliance GmbH together with Parity Quantum Computing GmbH, were successful with their innovative concepts in the tender for the Cyberagentur's largest research funding totalling over 35 million euros. T

ogether with the Research Director, Prof Dr Christian Hummert and the Commercial Director, Daniel Mayer, the representatives of the project partners, Sebastian Deuser, CEO neQxt GmbH and Dr Janine Hilder, CSO neQxt GmbH, signed the contract. Janine Hilder, CSO neQxt GmbH, for the "maQue" project, Tom Harty, CTO at Oxford Ionics (UK) and Stephan Schächer, Senior Principal Quantum Technologies at Infineon Technologies AG, for the "Min-Ion" project, as well as Magdalena Hauser and Wolfgang Lechner, Co-CEOs of ParityQC (Austria) and Mark Luo, CEO of Quantum Brillance (Australia), for the "Diamonds-MQC" project, signed the contract documents for the collaboration in the research project.

The research objective of the "Mobile quantum computer - quantum processors for mobile use in defence and security applications" project is to drive forward the miniaturisation of quantum computers and the necessary peripherals while maintaining high performance. The construction and proof of function of a reproducible and programmable mobile quantum computer was defined as a project result. Such a mobile quantum computer should be compact, lightweight, energy-efficient and robust against changing environmental conditions to enable its use in security and defence scenarios. Dr Roman Bansen, Head of Quantum Technologies at the Cyberagentur, explains: "Mobile systems are particularly important for security and defence scenarios, as they can operate independently of a data connection to stationary data centres. This is particularly essential in crisis or defence situations. At the same time, mobile quantum computers also potentially offer considerable advantages for civilian applications."

The selected companies taking part in the four-phase competition have committed to researching innovative approaches to the miniaturisation and energy efficiency of quantum computers. The aim is to optimise the physical implementation of the qubits and the necessary peripheral devices in such a way that quantum computers can also be operated outside of laboratories. The contract partners were able to present their project ideas during the signing ceremony and showed current exhibits on the subject of quantum computers.

The current project aims to bring Germany to the forefront of technology in the field of mobile quantum computing, to secure the leading position in quantum technology research that already exists today and thus to strengthen Germany's digital sovereignty. In future, the research results are likely to be used not only in a military context, but also in civilian areas. The research project will be an important step in the further development and implementation of quantum computers for mobile applications. The cooperation with leading technology companies represents a decisive contribution to securing Germany's digital future.

 
Brief presentation of the project ideas and contractors:

maQue (neQxt GmbH)

Aim of maQue is to integrate existing technologies into a compact, modular, scalable and mobile system. NeQxt is a full-stack quantum computing company. The start-up covers the entire spectrum from hardware production to software development. NeQxt is a spin-off of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, which emerged from the Schmidt-Kaler working group. NeQxt therefore benefits from decades of experience in the field of ion trap quantum computers.

Min-Ion (Oxford Ionics Limited with Infineon Technologies AG):

Oxford Ionics and Infineon are working in close co-operation on a mobile ion trap quantum computer called Min-Ion, based on Infineon's leading QPU technology and Oxford Ionics' Electronic Qubit Control technology. These technologies are designed to make it possible to run useful and high-performance applications while remaining compact and mobile. Infineon and Oxford Ionics are working together on the further development of QPUs (Quantum Processing Units) to significantly increase the number of qubits and thus scale performance, building on Oxford Ionics' leading position in gate quality.

Diamonds-MQC (Quantum Brilliance GmbH with Parity Quantum Computing GmbH):

In order to meet key requirements in terms of size, weight and energy consumption, qubits in the form of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres in diamonds are used in "Diamonds-MQC". Due to its robustness, the diamond offers excellent protection of the qubits against external influences, which also leads to outstanding storage and coherence times at room temperature - clear advantages for mobile use. A ParityQC architecture for NV centres, specially developed for Diamonds-MQC, allows highly complex optimisation problems to be transferred natively and efficiently to the topology of the quantum computer.