Europe’s race to industrialise quantum computing has gained momentum after German semiconductor giant Infineon Technologies and Swiss start-up ZuriQ expanded their partnership to develop scalable quantum processors using a radically different chip architecture.
The collaboration targets one of quantum computing’s biggest obstacles: scaling laboratory systems into commercially viable machines capable of supporting thousands or potentially millions of physical qubits.
ZuriQ, spun out of ETH Zurich, has developed a two-dimensional Penning micro-trap architecture that manipulates trapped ions using electric and magnetic fields.
Unlike conventional trapped-ion processors, which typically arrange ions in linear chains, ZuriQ’s architecture moves ions directly across a chip, eliminating complex junction structures that can complicate scaling.
The companies have already demonstrated a 3×3 array containing nine individually controlled ions, which they describe as the largest two-dimensional array of its kind.
Their next challenge is substantially increasing qubit density while maintaining the precision and reliability required for quantum operations.
Infineon will contribute semiconductor manufacturing, advanced packaging and integrated photonics expertise, potentially bridging the gap between experimental physics and industrial production.
“Progress in quantum computing requires breakthroughs in physics, but also robust manufacturing technologies capable of supporting the development of future large-scale systems,” said Clemens Rössler, Infineon’s Head of Quantum Processing Units.
The partnership reflects Europe’s growing determination to establish domestic quantum hardware capabilities as global competition intensifies.
However, demonstrating nine controlled ions remains far removed from delivering fault-tolerant quantum computers.
The critical test will be whether the architecture can scale without sacrificing operational accuracy, manufacturing consistency or system reliability.
