Linde in bid to develop quantum computer cooling

GERMANY/FINLAND: Industrial refrigeration company Linde has joined forces with Helsinki-based Bluefors to create cooling solutions for large-scale quantum computers.

Bluefors is a leader in manufacturing dilution refrigerator measurement systems in the field of quantum technology.

The companies say they plan to ensure that cryogenics are ready for the next steps in large-scale quantum computing, in terms of cooling power, efficiency and robustness.

Having identified how the technologies work best together, the partners are currently collaborating on making their joint product ready for market.

Quantum computers have the potential for computational power that is unattainable by current computers. They can operate exponentially faster than conventional computers and could, thereby, be the solution to today’s insurmountable problems. Cryogenics is a critical component in harnessing this quantum power and the ability to cool down large-scale quantum circuits is essential.

“The market potential for the technology is significant, since quantum computing will enable complex or real-time task processing, to name just a few examples: in healthcare modelling, banking and finance, autonomous driving, machine learning, and artificial intelligence,” said John van der Velden, Linde Engineering’s senior vice president global sales & technology.