Picture of the month: 100 Years of Quantum Quantum computer components from the Institute for CMOS Design

Unesco has declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Physics and Technologies. As a founding member of the quantum alliance Quantum Valley Lower Saxony (QVLS), TU Braunschweig is one of the driving forces behind a rapidly growing quantum technology industry in Germany. In the month of World Quantum Day (14 April), our picture shows one of the Braunschweig innovations that make Lower Saxony’s quantum computer possible.

Chip for the Lower Saxony ion trap quantum computer of Quantum Valley Lower Saxony. Picture credits: Kristina Rottig/TU Braunschweig

Sometimes quantum computers seem to be a technology of opposites. For example, when the sensitive qubits only reach peak performance at temperatures close to absolute zero. Or when huge devices are used to control the smallest parts of the universe. At TU Braunschweig, however, researchers at the Institute for CMOS Design, working group of Prof. Issakov, want to make quantum computers more compact and temperature stable. Our picture of the month shows one of their designs for the Niedersachsen ion trap quantum computer of Quantum Valley Niedersachsen (QVLS).

As chip designers, Professor Vadim Issakov and his team are miniaturising the supercomputer’s formerly macroscopic electronics onto compact circuit boards. The picture of the month shows a chip that miniaturises the control electronics for the transport of trapped ions by a factor of 250 and still works at cryogenic temperatures of around 4 degrees Kelvin. The working group’s latest publication shows just how high the demand for miniaturisation is in quantum technologies. At the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), the world’s most important platform for chip design, they were able to place their world’s first functional microwave trapped-ion controller in a prominent position.