Chinese Research Team Develops Quantum Chip “Refrigerator”

Recently, Anhui Quantum Computing Engineering Research Center of China successfully developed the country’s first quantum chip high vacuum storage box and has put it into use. Researchers have called it a “quantum chip refrigerator”.

According to Jia Zhilong, deputy director of Anhui Quantum Computing Engineering Research Center, the quantum chip high vacuum storage box is owned by Hefei Benyuan Quantum Computing Technology Co., Ltd., and has three storage cavities, each of which can be operated independently.

At the same time, it is equipped with an intelligent monitoring system, which can monitor the vacuum degree in real-time and provide a stable high vacuum environment for the chip storage process. In order to realize the whole automation operation of the equipment, R&D personnel also researched the human-computer interaction interface.

The quantum chip is the core component of quantum computers. Different from the usual integrated circuit chips, quantum chips need to go through complex system production processes, such as ambient temperature, cleanliness, noise, vibration, electromagnetic waves and tiny impurity particles, all of which have an impact on the resultant chip.

Furthermore, superconducting materials in quantum chips are highly sensitive to the environment. If the environment is not up to standard during manufacturing and storage, the materials easily react with oxygen and water molecules in the air and adsorb various impurities. The Josephson junction and superconducting capacitance, which are the key components of quantum chips, will age the materials and therefore lead to a poorer consistency in frequency of the qubits and lower coherence time of quantum chips. Just like food is oxidized and rots when exposed to air, quantum chips can’t be used if they are not properly preserved.

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The original quantum technology team originated at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Quantum Information. The team has been committed to the R&D of quantum computing chips with two production lines of superconducting and silicon-based semiconductors and has successively produced Wuyuan, the first quantum chip production line in China.