Oxford Instruments Superconductivity Joins Key Collaboration In Nanotechnology
Oxford Instruments Superconductivity is joining the Cryogenic Instrumentation for Quantum Electronics Collaboration. It will supply cryogenic consultancy and an ultra low temperature (ULT) system to enable the extremely low temperature environments essential for research into quantum electronics, quantum computing and quantum nanotechnology.
The overall aim of the collaboration is to provide the technological infrastructure that will give UK scientists and industries a head start in the development of new kinds of nanotechnology and their commercial exploitation. In particular, this will provide the semiconductor industry with an alternative method of technology scaling to provide improvements in chip performance and cost.
Nanotechnology can deliver Quantum Scale Computers and ultimately true Quantum Computers. This will open up a completely new level of computing power that will help tackle some of today's most demanding quantum modelling problems and assist in the understanding of previously obscure processes, such as protein folding and other biochemical processes.
The collaboration is headed by Professor Briggs of Oxford University and also includes Cambridge University, Hitachi Europe Ltd and the (CCLRC) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. It is supported by a £2 million fund from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council as part of the Council's Basic Technology Programme. Oxford Instruments will provide the expertise in the manufacture of cryogenic equipment essential for emerging quantum scale computing and associated nanotechnologies.
"This project brings together a unique combination of UK talent and expertise in quantum information theory," said Professor Briggs. "Together we can exploit advances in solid state quantum scale computing, putting us at the forefront of emerging quantum electronics technologies. Furthermore, the control circuitry will benefit anyone performing cryogenic electrical measurements, from physics experiments to space applications."
Other news from the department science
