GlobalFoundries: Xanadu and GlobalFoundries Announce Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Quantum Manufacturing on an Industrial Scale

This partnership combines Xanadu’s existing expertise in the design and process development of ultra-low-loss photonic components with GF’s industry-leading manufacturing expertise in photonics to enable the development and production of advanced photonic components —including ultra-low-loss silicon nitride (SiN) photonic components and superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs)—via GF’s 300-mm production line in Malta, New York.

The initial focus of the partnership between Xanadu and GF is on the industrialization of Xanadu’s SNSPDs and its SiN-based, ultra-low-loss photonic platform. In photonic quantum computing, where information is transmitted via photons, reading out the computation results requires photon number resolution (PNR) detectors—sophisticated optical sensors that determine the number of photons in a single light pulse. Xanadu has adopted SNSPDs—widely regarded as the most reliable PNR technology—as its PNR platform for utility-scale quantum computers. The use of SNSPDs is expected to dramatically increase the speed of Xanadu’s quantum computing systems and significantly reduce the chip overhead required to deploy utility-scale quantum computers using Xanadu’s photonic quantum computing architecture. The combination of extremely high-efficiency SNSPDs and ultra-low-loss SiN photonics—which serves as an optical circuit board to guide photons across a broad spectrum of light with negligible signal loss— forms the backbone of Xanadu’s photonic quantum computing technology.

The transfer of components from Xanadu’s existing advanced photonic technology to GF’s 300-mm production line represents a crucial step from laboratory-scale prototyping toward industrial-scale production. In addition to SNSPDs and SiN, Xanadu and GF are exploring further work packages to advance the development of high-performance quantum modules designed to enhance the performance and utility of photonic quantum computing systems. The results of this collaboration are intended to serve as the manufacturing foundation for Xanadu’s upcoming fault-tolerant demonstration systems and support the company’s long-term goal of providing the hardware architecture for future quantum data centers.

“Transitioning quantum computing technology to high-volume production is fundamental to enabling quantum computing at scale,” said Dr. Christian Weedbrook, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Xanadu. “The partnership with GlobalFoundries enables Xanadu to further develop and scale our existing, industry-leading photonic platform and to apply GF’s industrial expertise and technology to our photonic chip production. This partnership underscores our focus on execution and aims to provide the reliable, precision-manufactured infrastructure required to transition quantum technology from the research environment to commercial-scale data centers.”

“By combining Xanadu’s advanced photonic computing technology with GF’s 300-mm manufacturing expertise, this partnership paves the way for the industrialization of the critical components needed to accelerate the deployment of fault-tolerant systems and enable future quantum computer architectures,” said Nicholas Sergeant, Vice President of Quantum Technology Solutions at GF.

Xanadu is committed to building quantum computers that are useful and accessible to people everywhere. By securing this manufacturing path, Xanadu is solidifying its position as a global leader in photonic quantum computing.

About Xanadu

Founded in 2016, Xanadu is a Canadian photonic quantum computing company with the goal of building quantum computers that are useful and accessible to people everywhere. Xanadu builds error-correcting quantum computers based on light, with systems designed to operate at room temperature. Xanadu develops both hardware and software, including PennyLane, its open-source quantum computing platform. Xanadu is the first pure-play photonic quantum computing company listed on public stock exchanges (NASDAQ/TSX: XNDU) and is recognized globally for its breakthroughs in scalable quantum technologies.

About GlobalFoundries

GlobalFoundries (GF) is a leading manufacturer of essential semiconductors that enable AI at scale, from the cloud to the physical world. Through close partnerships with customers, GF delivers differentiated, energy-efficient, and high-performance solutions for the automotive, aerospace, and defense industries, data centers, smart mobile devices, the Internet of Things, and other high-growth markets. With manufacturing facilities worldwide in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, GF is a trusted, end-to-end technology partner for customers around the globe. GF’s talented, global team focuses every day on safety, longevity, and sustainability.

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