VTT and IQM have entered into an agreement to establish a co-innovation partnership and begin building Finland’s first Quantum Computer.
The cooperation will bring together top expertise in quantum technologies and enable a leap in Finland’s quantum capabilities. The government of Finland has granted the project EUR 20.7 million funding.
The computer will be built in Espoo, Finland at VTT’s and Aalto University’s joint national research infrastructure Micronova, where the clean room environment used to manufacture the quantum components is located. Work will begin already during 2020.
The innovation partner, IQM, was selected as a result of an international public tender. Earlier this month, IQM announced the completion of a new successful funding round, which puts its total funding to EUR 71 million.
The project will proceed in three phases. In the first phase, within approximately a year, the aim is a functioning five-qubit quantum computer, which will demonstrate Finland’s expertise in building quantum computers. The overall goal of the project is to build a 50-qubit device, by 2024.
Parallel to the work on the quantum computer, VTT will continue to work also on other areas of application, such as quantum sensors, which are becoming important tools in medical imaging and diagnostics, and quantum-encryption algorithms, which can be used to protect information networks. These and other applications provide opportunities also for Finnish and European businesses to successfully leverage quantum technologies.