Oxford Ionics (IonQ)

An Oxford-based British company, now part of IonQ, that builds trapped-ion quantum computer chips using standard silicon manufacturing.

About Oxford Ionics (IonQ)

Oxford Ionics builds the chips at the heart of trapped-ion quantum computers. In this approach, a qubit, the quantum version of a bit, is stored in a single charged atom held in place by electric fields. Trapped ions are very accurate, but the equipment needed to control them used to be bulky and hard to scale. Oxford Ionics set out to solve that by putting the control onto a chip made with the same kind of manufacturing used for ordinary computer chips, rather than relying on lots of lasers. The idea is to make powerful quantum computers that can be built in numbers.

Two physicists, Dr Chris Ballance and Dr Tom Harty, founded the company in 2019. They met while doing their PhDs at the University of Oxford and spun the company out of the university. Dr Ballance said that after the move the company remained committed to building quantum systems that have a meaningful impact on the world. We did not find a longer mission statement from the company itself.

In 2025 the US company IonQ agreed to buy Oxford Ionics, and the deal completed in September 2025. ACQUIRED: by IonQ (2025). The Oxford site is not being closed: IonQ said the acquisition makes Oxford its global research and development hub and its headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and that it plans to expand the Oxford workforce. For that reason we have not listed IonQ's UK operation separately. The team works from Oxford and the surrounding area; job listings for Oxford Ionics roles still appear online under the Oxford Ionics name.

The founders' background as university researchers still shapes the company, and the University of Oxford itself described the deal as the highest-value acquisition of a quantum computing spin-out from the university. IonQ has said the Oxford team will lead work on chips for both computing and networking, and it has set a goal of systems with two million physical qubits by 2030. That goal is the buyer's, not something we have tested. We found no first-hand description of working culture, so we cannot say more.

A company like this employs physicists, electronic and chip engineers, software engineers who write the control code, and operations staff who run laboratories and manage facilities. Job adverts we saw online included quantum scientists, a systems operations physicist, IT engineers for quantum systems and a director of facilities. Physics, electronics and computing are the usual starting points. Check the company's pages for what is open now.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Chips that hold and control atom-based qubits using standard semiconductor manufacturing.', 'title': 'Trapped-ion quantum chips'}
• {'desc': 'Complete machines built around those chips, now developed within IonQ.', 'title': 'Quantum computing systems'}
• {'desc': "Work on linking quantum computers together, part of IonQ's plans for Oxford.", 'title': 'Quantum networking research'}

Key facts

• Founded 2019 by Dr Chris Ballance and Dr Tom Harty, who met during PhDs at the University of Oxford
• ACQUIRED: by IonQ (completed September 2025); Oxford is IonQ's global R&D hub and EMEA headquarters
• IonQ plans to expand the Oxford workforce
• IonQ goal of two million physical qubits by 2030 (company aim)

Website: www.oxionics.com