PsiQuantum Receives £9 Million ($10.6M USD) in Funding to Open an R&D Facility in the UK for Dev...

PsiQuantum’s modularized quantum computing system networks individual cryogenic units using conventional fiber optics. Credit: PsiQuantum

PsiQuantum has received a  £9 million grant from the UK government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to set up a research group at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Daresbury Laboratory to develop more advanced cryogenics that will increase PsiQuantum’s the cooling capability by a factor of 100. One of the benefits of this location is that it gives PsiQuantum access to one of Europe’s largest liquid-helium (approx. -270°C) cryogenic plants. Although much of PsiQuantum's system may not require cooling, they do require it for their ultra-sensitive single photon detectors. The cooling apparatus will be using liquid helium which runs at a few degrees kelvin. While cold, it is not as cold as the millikelvin temperatures required for superconducting processors and the cooling apparatus will be much lower in cost than the dilution refrigerators that superconductors use. Additional information about PsiQuantum's new research effort is available in a news release here.

March 8, 2023