- NPL supports Cambridge Quantum Computing to accelerate R&D through to commercialisation of their novel quantum photonic products
- Incubation and collaboration with pioneering companies helps drive innovation within UK quantum sector
London, November 2020 – Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) are working with Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) to accelerate research and development to support the commercialisation and optimisation of their quantum technologies, such as IronBridgeTM, and help with the characterisation of photonic components. This includes the metrology of emerging ultra-low loss optical connectors, for example, to meet the exacting requirements of IEC standards for improving the efficiency of quantum optical networks.
CQC’s IronBridgeTM is a photonic quantum device, built to provide high grade entropy to be used for post-quantum encryption algorithms, cached entropy generation for IoT devices, key generation for certificates, quantum watermarking and many other use cases in cybersecurity, science, engineering, finance and gaming by utilising verifiable quantum randomness.
NPL is the UK’s National Metrology Institute and home to the Quantum Metrology Institute, which brings together NPL’s cutting-edge quantum science and metrology research and provides the expertise and facilities needed for academia and industry to test, validate, and ultimately commercialise new quantum research and technologies.
This collaboration will provide CQC with access to NPL’s experts and world-class facilities and is a great example of how partnerships can help drive innovation within the UK. Supporting high tech companies like CQC at an early stage of the development of quantum computers ensures maximum benefit from their photonic products and quantum processes ultimately increasing the optimisation ability from a lab environment to practicality in the real world.
Irshaad Fatadin, Principal Research Scientist, NPL states: “This strategic research partnership is an exciting opportunity for further collaboration in quantum computing applications spanning cybersecurity, drug development, AI, modelling, traffic, network optimisation and climate change to name but a few. I am confident that this collaboration will have a lasting impact by supporting CQC, currently at a crucial stage in the development of quantum computers and devices, to extract maximum benefit from their novel photonic products using world-leading metrology from NPL which will lead to UK quantum products competing in world markets.”
Ilyas Khan, CEO of CQC says: “NPL are globally respected as a centre of excellence in cutting edge technologies and our collaboration with them on this highly innovative quantum computing project is a noteworthy milestone. In addition to NPL’s respected scientific depth and credibility, NPL brings the required metrology expertise to develop technologies for the quantum computing era. We look forward to developing advances together and in particular in developing verifiable quantum entropy for use in critical cybersecurity areas as well as inputs for monte carlo simulations.”