On March 15, Dublin-based Linde Cryogenics (CSA CSM) and Finnish company Bluefors (CSA CSM) announced a joint operation to create cooling solutions for large-scale quantum computers. Linde is contributing its vast experience as a world leader in large cryogenic installations while Bluefors brings to the table its ultra low temperature interface needed for quantum computing. Their combined effort supports this emerging industry by ensuring cryogenics are ready for the next steps in large-scale quantum computing, in terms of cooling power, efficiency and robustness.

In the initial phase of the partnership, the companies focused on identifying how the technologies work best together. Currently, they are collaborating on implementing the results to get their joint product ready for market. “I am happy that we, as two world leaders within their respective sectors, take on this challenge together,” says John van der Velden, Linde’s senior vice president of global sales and technology. “The market potential for this technology is significant since quantum computing will enable complex or real-time task processing in fields like health care modeling, banking and finance, autonomous driving, machine learning and artificial intelligence—just to name a few examples:”

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, as the ability to cool down large-scale quantum circuits is essential. Together, Linde and Bluefors have embraced this challenge to ensure that the next stage in cryogenics is ready and able to meet this need. “After our first meetings, it was clear to both Bluefors and Linde that this was a perfect match for the next phases,” adds Rob Blaauwgeers, Bluefors CEO. “Linde shares the same values regarding product quality and reliability and has a long history of providing large-scale cryogenics, which is a necessity in the next steps of quantum computing scale-up.” ■