PsiQuantum (UK)

The UK research site of PsiQuantum, a US company building a large photonic quantum computer, at the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus in Cheshire.

About PsiQuantum (UK)

PsiQuantum is a quantum computing company that is trying to build a very large quantum computer using photons, which are particles of light. The chips are made in a conventional semiconductor factory, and the company says its aim is to build the world's first utility-scale quantum computers. Its approach needs cooling to only a few degrees above absolute zero, much warmer than the temperatures other kinds of quantum computer need, but at the scale it wants, the cooling equipment is a huge engineering challenge. That challenge is the focus of its UK site.

The company was founded in 2016 by four professors and PhDs from the University of Bristol and Imperial College, so the UK is part of its story. Mark Thompson, a co-founder and its chief technologist, said when the UK facility was announced that the team was very excited to set up a lab in the UK. Its stated target applications include climate, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, finance, energy, agriculture, transport and communications.

PsiQuantum's UK operation is based at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's Daresbury Laboratory, on the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus in the Liverpool City Region, where it also leases office space. The site is branded PsiLabs. According to PsiQuantum, the team there tests silicon photonic chips in cryogenic cabinets and builds next-generation cooling modules, aiming at 100 watts of cooling at 2 to 4 kelvin. Other UK staff work on algorithms and applications with partners such as the Hartree Centre, a collaboration between STFC and IBM. The campus also houses one of Europe's largest cryoplants.

We found little on culture. PsiQuantum's UK page does not describe it beyond partnerships and quotes from government figures, and it does not give a UK headcount. What the pages do show is a site where engineers work alongside STFC scientists and technicians in a national laboratory setting. The head of Daresbury Laboratory, Paul Vernon, has described PsiQuantum as a shining example of how STFC supports pioneering businesses.

The kinds of people needed at a site like this include cryogenic and mechanical engineers, photonics and electronics engineers, physicists who test the chips, software and algorithm developers, and operations and facilities staff. Physics, engineering and computer science are the subjects most relevant. PsiQuantum's own website and the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus pages show what the team is currently working on.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Building and testing very large cooling systems for quantum computing modules.', 'title': 'Cryogenic engineering'}
• {'desc': 'Testing silicon photonic chips at low temperature.', 'title': 'Photonic chip testing'}
• {'desc': 'Working with partners such as the Hartree Centre on uses for quantum computers.', 'title': 'Algorithms and applications'}

Key facts

• Company founded in 2016 by academics from the University of Bristol and Imperial College
• UK site at STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Sci-Tech Daresbury campus (branded PsiLabs)
• Cryogenic target of 100 watts of cooling at 2 to 4 kelvin
• Hartree Centre named as a development partner

Website: www.psiquantum.com/unitedkingdom