Myfab KTH

Electrum Laboratory and Albanova Nanofabrication Facility are the two laboratories operated within the KTH node of Myfab – the Swedish research infrastructure for micro- and nanofabrication.

In Kista the Electrum Laboratory with a 1300 m2 cleanroom area and 1500 m2 additional laboratories is outstanding for fabrication and characterization in the nano and micro scale, supporting the whole chain from education, research and development, to prototyping and production.

At KTH Campus the Albanova Nanofabrication Facility has a 285 m2 cleanroom and 60 m2 additional laboratories. With focus on direct writing technology, the Albanova Nanolab is a flexible resource for basic research requiring nanofabrication and nanocharacterization with a wide variety of materials and substrate.

Highlights

Quantum challenge to be solved one mile underground

458 0
Peter Modh
/ Categories: Myfab Chalmers

Radiation from space is a challenge for quantum computers as their computation time becomes limited by cosmic rays. Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and University of Waterloo in Canada are now going deep underground in the search for a solution to this problem – in a two-kilometer-deep mine.

A recently discovered cause of errors in quantum computers is cosmic radiation. Highly charged particles from space disturb the sensitive qubits and cause them to lose their quantum state, as well as the ability to continue a calculation. But now quantum researchers from Sweden and Canada will join forces to find a solution to the problem – in the world's deepest located clean room, two kilometers underground.

“We are super excited about this project because it addresses the very important question of how cosmic radiation affects qubits and quantum processors. Gaining access to this underground facility is crucial to understanding how the effects of cosmic radiation can be mitigated,” says Per Delsing, Professor of Quantum Technology at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and Director of the Wallenberg Center for Quantum Technology.

The unique research project is carried out in collaboration between researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo, and SNOLAB near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

In the study, superconducting qubits manufactured at Chalmers University of Technology will first be tested above ground in both Sweden and Canada. Next, the same qubits will be tested far below the Canadian ground so that differences between the two environments may be studied. With the help of the two-kilometer-thick "ground shield" that surrounds the world’s deepest clean room located in the Vales Creighton mine in Ontario, the researchers may shut out cosmic rays or radioactivity that otherwise would have "knocked out" the qubits above ground.

Print