Intel, the largest computer-chip manufacturer in the world, has unveiled its latest quantum chip, named Tunnel Falls, and has commenced shipping it to quantum scientists and engineers for their research endeavors. This chip features a 12-qubit array and utilizes silicon spin-qubit technology.
The distribution of the Tunnel Falls quantum chip to the quantum research community aligns with Intel’s objective of enabling researchers to gain practical experience with quantum technology while fostering new avenues of quantum research. Several esteemed institutions have been selected as the first recipients of this chip, including the University of Maryland, Sandia National Laboratories, the University of Rochester, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Intel fabricated the Tunnel Falls chip on 300 mm silicon wafers at its “D1” facility in Oregon. This facility specializes in extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) as well as gate and contact processing techniques. By employing silicon spin qubits, which encode information in the spin of a single electron, each qubit device functions as a single electron transistor that can be manufactured using standard CMOS processing. The fabrication process maintains a high level of quality, resulting in a remarkable 95% yield rate across the wafer, similar to that of a CMOS logic process. Each wafer contains over 24,000 quantum dot devices.
Intel’s initiative to provide researchers with access to the Tunnel Falls chip signifies a significant step in advancing quantum computing capabilities and fostering further advancements in the field.
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