The Next Dawn for CMOS: Cryogenic ICs for Quantum Computing

Advances in semiconductor and superconductor technology have sparked a new round of research in quantum computing in recent years. Quantum computers hold the promise to efficiently solve problems that are intractable by today’s electronic computers. In a quantum computer, standard logic bits ‘0’ and ‘1’ are replaced by quantum states |0⟩ and |1⟩ referred to as quantum bits (qubits). The challenge facing researchers is controlling and detecting these quantum states, which are preserved long enough only at deep sub-Kelvin temperatures.