← Quantum & Cryogenics
Critical node· Quantum & Cryogenics · Critical anchor
Superconducting qubits, IBM & Google
Yorktown Heights · Santa Barbara, United States41.21°N 73.80°W
computed criticality49/100
reading
2-qubit fidelities ≈99.9%; coherence up to ≈0.3-0.6 ms
2024Fault line
The dominant strand of quantum computing, aluminium Josephson junctions on niobium/tantalum films, NbTi wiring, is carried by IBM and Google. The entire upstream chain converges here: helium-3, dilution, sapphire, isotopes. A high-performing modality but wholly suspended on extreme cryogenics and on materials each of which is a bottleneck.
Actors
IBM Quantum (Yorktown Heights)
Google Quantum AI (Santa Barbara)
Rigetti (Berkeley)
Depends on 5
Enriched silicon-28, Silex, SydneyQuantum & Cryogenics · Critical anchor↗Sapphire substrates & tantalum filmsQuantum & Cryogenics · Link↗Dilution refrigerators, Bluefors, HelsinkiQuantum & Cryogenics · Critical anchor↗Cryo isolators & circulators, QuinStar, TorranceQuantum & Cryogenics · Link↗Cryogenic control electronicsQuantum & Cryogenics · Link↗Feeds 2
Quantum machines & sensors, optical clocksQuantum & Cryogenics↗CBMM, Araxá, Minas GeraisCritical Metals↗Shocks endured
Helium-3 grows scarce, quantum struggles to breatheMay 1, 2024↗Sources