Imec and Diraq deliver qubit demonstration
Imec and Diraq, a pioneer of silicon-based quantum computing, have demonstrated the coherent operation and readout of an eight silicon MOS spin-qubit array designed and fabricated on imec's advanced 300mm spin-qubit technology platform using a CMOS-compatible process. The results, published in a Nature Communications paper, mark an important step toward scalable quantum processors manufactured with the same industrial technologies used to produce today's most advanced semiconductor chips.
Silicon spin qubits are widely regarded as one of the most promising pathways to large-scale quantum computing because they can exploit the infrastructure, supply chains and manufacturing expertise already developed by the semiconductor industry. The work of this paper builds on imec and Diraq’s earlier demonstration, in a 2025 Nature paper, showing that industrially manufactured silicon spin qubits can achieve fidelity levels required for quantum error correction. While that result established the viability of individual and two-qubit building blocks, today’s work extends this and demonstrates that imec’s process can be scaled to larger arrays: an eight-qubit linear array was demonstrated, maintaining the coherence and controllability required for future large-scale quantum computers. In addition, scaling the readout architecture for this larger array does not require a significant increase in sensor count, wiring density, or thermal load; this type of favorable scaling ratio points toward arrays that remain highly compact as they grow, which is required for large scale quantum processors.
The eight-qubit devices were fabricated on imec's 300mm silicon spin-qubit platform, which leverages CMOS-compatible manufacturing technology developed over nearly a decade of process optimization and engineering, bridging the gap between laboratory demonstrations and manufacturable quantum technologies.
"The future of quantum computing depends not only on qubit quality but also on the ability to manufacture increasingly complex quantum processors with the reproducibility, yield and scale of the semiconductor industry," said Kristiaan De Greve, fellow and program director quantum computing at imec. "This result demonstrates that industrial 300mm CMOS-compatible manufacturing can support quantum systems beyond isolated qubit pairs. By combining imec’s advanced semiconductor process technology with quantum device engineering, we are taking important steps toward realizing scalable silicon-based quantum processors."
"This is what an industrial pathway to quantum computing looks like," said Andrew Dzurak, Founder and CEO of Diraq. "Nine months ago, we showed the world that silicon MOS qubits could be fabricated reliably using imec’s 300 mm CMOS platform technology. Today, imec has scaled and Diraq has tested the size of the array using exactly the same process, with no compromise in coherence. This is the cadence we need to reach utility scale, and it is the type of cadence we expect to keep.”
