Pasqal has demonstrated what it believes is the first trapping of individual atoms using laser light generated by a photonic integrated circuit, marking a potential step toward more scalable neutral-atom quantum computers.
The milestone was achieved with Aeponyx, a photonics company Pasqal acquired less than 18 months ago, and is intended to address one of the major hardware challenges associated with scaling quantum processors.
Neutral-atom quantum systems use tightly focused laser beams, known as optical tweezers, to trap and control individual atoms that function as qubits.
As Pasqal works toward systems containing more than 10,000 atoms and 100 logical qubits, the company said increasingly complex optical hardware has become an important engineering constraint. Current systems can require large free-space optical benches, while Pasqal’s new approach moves critical optical functions onto a photonic chip.
In the demonstration, Pasqal generated four optical traps using a single photonic integrated circuit and used them to hold four individual rubidium atoms inside a quantum processing unit. The company believes this represents the first use of trapping light delivered from a photonic chip to hold atoms in a neutral-atom quantum computer.
The work forms part of a broader development program focused on generating, routing and controlling laser light directly on-chip.
Testing showed that the photonic-chip architecture could reproduce atom trapping performance comparable with Pasqal’s existing bulk-optics systems, including atom lifetimes of approximately 27.5 seconds. Pasqal said the results indicate that integrated photonics could provide a scalable foundation for future neutral-atom processors without compromising qubit-control quality.
The platform was co-developed using Aeponyx’s silicon-nitride photonics expertise.
Pasqal said the architecture is designed to reduce the optical footprint of future processors by as much as 50 times, potentially making large-scale quantum hardware easier to manufacture as the industry moves from laboratory prototypes toward commercial production.
The company plans to continue scaling the photonic architecture toward compact systems suitable for fault-tolerant, industrial-scale quantum computing.
Its longer-term technical target includes systems with more than 10,000 atoms and 100 logical qubits.
The milestone also highlights Pasqal’s strategy of controlling critical hardware layers within its technology stack and using acquisitions such as Aeponyx to accelerate development.
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in France, Pasqal develops neutral-atom quantum computing systems and software for applications in industry, science and government.
The company employs approximately 300 people and works with more than 25 clients and partners, including Saudi Aramco, LG Electronics, Crédit Agricole CIB, CMA CGM, OVHcloud, Thales, IBM and Sumitomo.
Pasqal has raised more than $300 million in private funding and is pursuing a Nasdaq listing through a proposed business combination with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II.
KEY QUOTE:
“Building quantum computers that excel commercially means building hardware that delivers industry leading performance and can be manufactured in a scalable way. By moving qubit control onto a photonic chip, we removed what we believe to be one of the biggest barriers to scale, and we did it within 18 months of acquiring Aeponyx.”
Wasiq Bokhari, Chief Executive Officer of Pasqal
