Infineon and ZuriQ deepen their partnership on scalable trapped ion quantum chips

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Infineon Technologies and Swiss startup ZuriQ are expanding their work together on trapped ion quantum processors, Quantum Zeitgeist reports. ZuriQ was spun out in 2024, and the partnership builds on its demonstration of a three by three grid of nine individually controlled ions. ZuriQ calls that the largest two dimensional array of its kind so far. Nine ions does not sound like much, but the layout is what matters here

Most trapped ion systems line their ions up in a row or shuttle them through junctions on the chip. Those junctions are tricky to build and they limit how big the system can get. ZuriQ's Penning micro trap design uses electric and magnetic fields to move ions directly across the chip instead. That avoids the junctions and opens the door to much larger two dimensional arrays

Infineon's role goes beyond manufacturing ZuriQ's designs. It will bring its photonics, semiconductor manufacturing, integration and advanced packaging expertise to move the technology towards real world use. Infineon already has a trapped ion programme of its own, so it knows the territory well. Having a major chip maker this involved gives a small startup a big boost

ZuriQ co-founder and CEO Pavel Hrmo said that moving quantum computing towards commercial impact will require close collaboration. Clemens Rössler, who heads quantum processing units at Infineon, said the partners are enabling the next generation of trapped ion processors. Both companies also present the deal as strengthening Europe's position in the quantum industry. That is a theme we see in almost every European announcement lately

I think this is one of the more interesting hardware stories this week. Penning traps have been used in physics labs for decades, but shrinking them onto a chip is a different challenge. If ZuriQ can scale the grid from nine ions to hundreds, trapped ions could lose one of their biggest weaknesses. Partnerships between startups and established fabs are how that kind of scaling usually happens

Could Penning micro traps solve the scaling problem for trapped ions? And is Europe doing enough to keep companies like ZuriQ at home?

Infineon And ZuriQ Deepen Partnership To Advance Scalable Quantum Chipsquantumzeitgeist.com