Xanadu & HyperLight set new benchmark for quantum photonic chips

Xanadu and HyperLight have jointly announced advancements in thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic chips that set new standards in quantum computing hardware performance.

The collaboration between the Canadian quantum computing firm Xanadu and the U.S.-based photonics company HyperLight has resulted in photonic chips with significantly improved performance metrics, marking progress towards the scalability required for commercial quantum computing applications.

Engineers from both companies have developed fabrication processes resulting in waveguide losses below 2 dB per metre in TFLN material. Additionally, they have achieved a switch loss of approximately 20 milli-decibel (mdB), a figure presented as one of the lowest ever recorded for electro-optic switches engineered for photonic quantum computing. These advancements were attained in a high-volume semiconductor production setting, which is considered essential for meeting the manufacturing needs of utility-scale quantum computing.

"Our long-standing collaboration with HyperLight has been instrumental in achieving our hardware roadmap," said Zachary Vernon, CTO of Hardware at Xanadu. "The unprecedented performance we've achieved with these new photonic chips sets a new benchmark for performance in the industry and brings us closer to delivering utility-scale photonic quantum computers."

Xanadu has previously demonstrated progress in quantum computing with the successful unveiling of Aurora, described as the world's first fibre-networked photonic quantum computer. Aurora demonstrated the scalability and networking ability of Xanadu's approach to photonic quantum computing and utilised HyperLight's advanced TFLN Chiplet platform. The most recent advancements further this foundation by providing higher performing chips necessary for the next generations of quantum computing hardware.

Mian Zhang, CEO of HyperLight, commented on the development:

"This achievement of HyperLight and Xanadu is an example of the breadth of impact of TFLN technology. Synergized with high-volume datacom and telecom applications, HyperLight's TFLN Chiplet Platform is uniquely designed to enable unprecedented performance and applications like quantum computing which our partner Xanadu is pursuing."

Thin-film lithium niobate technologies have gained attention in photonics for their favourable electro-optic properties and compatibility with scalable semiconductor manufacturing. The chips produced by Xanadu and HyperLight are designed to offer lower losses and better performance than previous photonic quantum computing components, allowing for the promise of expanded processing power and reduced error rates in larger quantum systems.

The achievement is reported as an important step in meeting industry challenges regarding fabrication precision and repeatability of complex optical circuits, which are crucial issues for transitioning quantum technology from laboratory settings to commercial deployment.

This milestone marks another achievement in Xanadu's hardware development for the year, underlining ongoing progress in quantum computing and support for its ambition to scale up the hardware required for broader use cases. The company cited this as further evidence of the importance of collaborations between technology providers in furthering scientific and engineering capabilities in quantum computing hardware.