The coldest place in the universe is not located in some dark corner of outer space, but within the confines of a quantum computer lab.
Quantum processors need to be stored within a few thousandths of a degree of absolute zero to eliminate thermal noise and vibrations, which can destroy the information contained in the delicate qubits.
While such labs are dotted all over the world, snowy Finland does feel an apt home for the development of quantum computers, and the country is aiming for global hub status, with aspirations to become one of the top three nations in the field.
Last week, the Research Council of Finland awarded €13 million to the newly launched Finnish Quantum Flagship project, which includes quantum organisations such as VTT, and several Finnish universities.
“Finland is one of the known forerunners in quantum technologies,” claims FQF’s director, and professor of physics at Aalto University, Peter Liljeroth, “and our national collaboration is flexible.”
“Although global competition is getting fierce, the spirit of collaboration among Finnish universities, research institutions, government agencies, and industrial partners is what sets us apart from other countries,” he adds.
While in frosty Finland last month, TI met with three organisations hoping to sustain Finland’s quantum leadership.
Looking at the chandelier of the quantum computer, “what you may be seeing is a quantum computer, but what I’m seeing is a Bluefors refrigerator,” says the firm’s sales director, Jukka Puputti.
While all the qubits powering the technology we know assemble in a smaller chip, the cooling technology allowing for temperatures near absolute zero takes up most of the visible hardware.
Founded in 2008, Bluefors develops ultra-low-temperature cooling solutions for a range of technologies and scientific research.
For quantum, the firm boasts that it sets the “global benchmark for the ultra-low temperature cooling systems needed in quantum applications.”
It’s also needed for other quantum technologies such as quantum sensors, which provide more accurate sensor measurements than current technology, according to Bluefors, used in applications such as atomic clocks, imaging, and navigation systems.
According to Puputti, current customers include academia, researchers, and scientists.
Right now, quantum computers’ main market sits in research and education, explains head of engineering of quantum computer manufacturer IQM, Juha Hassel.
Based in Helsinki, the start-up provides on-premises quantum computers for supercomputing centres and research labs.
Founded in 2018, IQM and VTT announced the completion of Finland’s second quantum computer last year, which uses 20 superconducting qubits, and is currently working on the country’s first 50-qubit machine.
The pair currently use the machine to demonstrate and learn more about the methods needed to scale up to 50 qubits.
Hassel hails Finland as a differentiator for its ecosystem built in and around the capital to support quantum innovation, including quantum computing studies in the local universities, which collaborate with local businesses for research.
“There’s a lot of talent, and a lot of [educated] workforce available, which is a shortage in the domain,” explains Hassel. “We have a good ecosystem and good venture capital funding.”
There has been some controversy over what real-life applications quantum should be used for. Back in 2021, the US sanctioned 28 organisations based in China, Russia, Pakistan, Japan, and Singapore, for helping advance and distribute quantum computing technologies to military weapon programmes.
In Finland however, the emphasis appears to be ‘quantum for good’. At IQM, for instance, it hopes to use its computers for sustainability and life science development.
In 2022, the climate venture capitalist firm World Fund invested $128 million in IQM to help tackle the climate crisis.
The fund was inspired by McKinsey research which found quantum computing could help develop climate technology that could mitigate carbon on the order of 7 gigatons per year by 2035.
World Fund believes quantum’s ability to simulate real situations better than current supercomputers will contribute to this and IQM already has a couple of study projects in the sustainability space such as carbon capture, Hassel adds.
In this instance, the quantum computers are mostly there for material and chemistry research- enabling a better membrane for carbon capture. IQM’s computers are also working on drug development too, something quantum is coming into play more.
Helsinki-based scaleup, Algorithmiq claims to harnesses quantum computing to solve complex issues in life sciences.
It claims to leverage the potential of quantum software so that new drugs can be discovered, invented, and brought to market efficiently and cost-effectively.
It has already worked with AstraZeneca and IBM and has a continuous flow of research in medical discoveries such as X-rays, scar tissue, and many other drug discoveries.
More recently, Algorithmiq’s team secured $4.25 million from investor Wellcome Leap to design new drug interactions in cancer prevention and treatment, alongside partners IBM and medical centre Cleveland Clinic.
When IBM’s supercomputer was first deployed at the clinic last March, IBM’s CEO said that it would enable researchers to “explore and uncover new scientific advancements in biomedical research.”
Currently, IBM and Algorithmiq are working hard on ensuring quantum computers can scale without error, and its most recent achievement was the ability to run faultless experiments with minimal noise, a dominant issue in quantum devices.
“I’ve dedicated over 20 years of my life to the study of noisy quantum systems, as a professor, and I never thought this type of experiment would be possible so soon,” enthused Algoirthmiq’s CEO, Sabrina Maniscalco.
“Needless to say, I’m extremely excited about the goals we’ve set ourselves for 2024.”
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