The national quantum foundries are accelerating, strengthening and securing the nation’s quantum information science and technology research. Commissioned during Q-NEXT, the Argonne Quantum Foundry and the SLAC Superconducting Quantum Foundry provide a source of high-quality, standardized materials for quantum devices and systems. These resources provide an in-demand source of materials and data to accelerate progress across the National Quantum Information Science Research Centers and in national QIS research.
Quantum Foundries
Argonne Quantum Foundry
Located at Argonne National Laboratory, the Argonne Quantum Foundry is a 6,000-square-foot facility focused on developing scalable semiconductor quantum systems. The foundry is home to a quantum computing test bed, tools for growing qubits and their host materials, environment-controlled annealing furnaces, and materials transfer and flip-chip bonders for integrating qubits with other devices.
Quantum computing test bed
Scientists use this test bed to deliver science that will lead to functional, scalable quantum technologies. The center piece is a quantum computer, pictured, which operates in a dilution refrigerator that cools the quantum processors to 10 millikelvin.
Annealing and growth lab
This area is for creating and transferring thin membranes that serve as host materials for qubits. A membrane fabrication and transfer tool — a combination microscope, manipulator and mover — enables scientists to cleanly and carefully cut thin crystal membranes. The laboratory also houses three different annealing furnaces, which bake host materials at superhigh temperatures at superfast speeds.
Laser cutting and polishing lab
This laboratory is a dedicated space to laser-cut, polish, and grind diamond, silicon and other qubit-host materials, as well as to apply protective layers to the materials. Through these processes, users prepare the materials for growth synthesis and provide new avenues for device integration.
Low-temperature characterization lab
In this laboratory, scientists characterize their qubits rapidly, using an FPGA to generate materials data. The laboratory has two special dilution refrigerators specialized for rapid characterization.
Optical characterization lab
In this lab, scientists characterize the interplay between a qubit and its host material, measuring how the materials’ properties affect the characteristics of the light emitted by the qubit. This work not only generates data for developing quantum devices, but it also provides opportunities to reveal new physics and quantum phenomena.
SLAC Detector Microfabrication Facility
The SLAC Detector Microfabrication Facility (DMF), located at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, is a 5,500-square-foot, class-100 cleanroom on the ground floor of the lab’s three-story Arrillaga Science Center. The facility, a superconducting quantum foundry, consists of a series of advanced equipment and metrology tools to support the state-of-the-art superconducting processes for a wide range of devices and sensors on 150-millimeter wafers. Facility capabilities include design, fabrication, and device characterization using cryogenic testing. The SLAC facility establishes methods and standards to improve the yield and robustness of superconducting processes to provide efficient, consistent, high-quality, and high-yield capabilities for superconducting quantum devices to support Q-NEXT and leverage other DOE missions.
Lithography bay cleanroom
This ISO 5 cleanroom in the lithography bay contains an ASML stepper, a Heidelberg laser direct write system, tracks, wet benches and related metrology tools.
Main clean aisle bay 1
Main clean aisle bay 2
Main clean aisle bay 3
Main clean aisle bay 4
Main clean aisle bay 5
Main clean aisle bay 6
Main clean aisle
The main clean aisle connects six clean bays. Each bay accommodates a specific category of equipment and related metrology tools for device fabrication. Behind each door is a chase where supporting pumps, chillers and heat exchangers reside.