Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) hit a high note with the recent launch of its revolutionary Quantum Twins product. This silicon quantum simulator is inherently capable of solving complex problems in two-dimensional materials. This innovative technology has now made its way to the customer side by way of direct contracts. A quantum entrepreneur based in Australia, Michelle Simmons founded SQC after more than 25 years of pioneering academic research in quantum computing. The firm plans to change the game when it comes to quantum simulation.
The company’s Precision Atom Qubit Manufacturing process, founded in 2017, is integral to going beyond the new company’s offerings. With the ability to design a quantum twin for nearly any two-dimensional challenge, SQC’s technology promises to push the boundaries of material science.
Advancements in Quantum Simulation Technology
Clusters of ten to fifty phosphorus atoms are used in the Quantum Twins device, creating registers crucial for application-specific chips. This novel type of display uses fifteen thousand quantum dots per device. It can model a material’s transition from an insulator to a metal, considering every step along the way.
Sam Gorman, the quantum systems engineering lead at SQC, discusses the differences in approach their team is taking.
“Instead of using qubits, as you would typically in a quantum computer, we just directly encode the problem into the geometry and structure of the array itself,” – Sam Gorman
This technique provides a more realistic and expressive visualisation of materials, and of their properties. Gorman goes on to make the case for their power.
“We can do things now that we think nobody else in the world can do,” – Sam Gorman
The team has demonstrated this technology on a larger problem: the metal-insulator transition in two-dimensional materials. This milestone represents SQC’s commitment to tackling the most scientifically impactful challenges.
Efficient Manufacturing and Design Processes
SQC’s manufacturing process showcases impressive efficiency. The team is able to manufacture 250,000 registers on a single chip in just eight hours. They can iterate chip designs in just one week. This unique rapid production capability gives SQC a strong competitive advantage over their industry peers.
From a manufacturing standpoint, Michelle Simmons has emphasized the purity of their process, which takes place in ultra-high vacuum conditions.
“It’s done in ultra-high vacuum. So it’s a very pure, very clean system,” – Michelle Simmons
And she adds that it’s exactly this level of detail in their work that makes all the difference in producing trusted and consistent outcomes. This unique duo of leading technology and tight production helps enable SQC to bring quality products built to the most demanding specifications.
Future Applications in Drug Discovery
Though material simulation is the current flagship use-case, Simmons envisions Quantum Twins finding applications elsewhere—especially in drug discovery. Mapping the clues onto their simulator She knows that other drugs can have very different structures from polyacetylene, creating their own challenges to mapping onto their simulator.
“If you look at different drugs, they’re actually very similar to polyacetylene. They’re carbon chains, and they have functional groups. So, understanding how to map it [onto our simulator] is a unique challenge. But that’s definitely an area we’re going to focus on,” – Michelle Simmons
SQC’s goal is to address these issues from the ground up. This ambition is in step with an increasing desire to leverage quantum computing to fundamentally reshape industries through tangible applications.
