Intel unveils new silicon spin qubit chip Tunnel Falls, pushing quantum computing toward practical use

     Intel has released Tunnel Falls, a new quantum chip containing 12 silicon spin qubits, continuing its quest for quantum practicality to solve big problems. Tunnel Falls is the most advanced silicon spin qubit chip Intel has developed to date, leveraging Intel's transistor design and manufacturing capabilities built up over decades.

     At Intel's fab, Tunnel Falls is produced on 300 mm silicon wafers, utilizing Intel's leading industrial transistor manufacturing capabilities, such as extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), as well as gate and contact layer processing technologies. In silicon spin qubits, information (0/1) is encoded in the spin (up/down) of a single electron. The silicon spin qubit is essentially a single-electron transistor, so Intel was able to manufacture it in a process similar to a standard CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) logic production line.

     Intel believes that silicon spin qubits have advantages over other qubit technologies because they can take advantage of production techniques similar to those used in advanced transistors. Silicon spin qubits are similar in size to a transistor at about 50 x 50 nanometers, a million times smaller than other types of qubits, and are expected to be mass-produced much faster. According to a paper in the journal Nature Electronics, "Silicon may be the platform with the greatest opportunity for large-scale quantum computing."

     At the same time, with advanced CMOS production lines, Intel can improve yields and performance through its innovative process control technology. The yield of Tunnel Falls reaches 95%, achieving voltage uniformity close to that of CMOS logic processes. In addition, Intel can achieve more than 24,000 quantum dots per wafer. Tunnel Falls can form between 4 and 12 qubits that can be isolated from each other or manipulated simultaneously.

     Going forward, Intel will continue to work on improving Tunnel Falls' performance and integrating it with the Intel Quantum Software Development Kit (SDK) into Intel's quantum computing stack. In addition, based on the experience of manufacturing Tunnel Falls, Intel has begun to develop the next generation of quantum chips, which are expected to be launched in 2024.