Millenion

There are many ways to build a quantum computer. One of the most promising relies on highly isolated ions—single, positively charged atoms. In nature, isolated atoms are extremely rare; they usually bind together to form molecules or matter. But single ions are exactly what we need, because each one acts as a qubit, the fundamental unit of quantum information. 

These qubits are ideal: all ions of a given element are inherently identical, unlike superconducting qubits, whose “quantum states” arise from currents and voltages in a circuit rather than from single ions. Ion-based qubits exhibit exceptionally low error rates, with fidelities exceeding 99.9999% in the best implementations. Superconducting qubits rarely surpass 99.9%. That difference is huge: six nines enable hundreds of operations before errors accumulate, while three nines allow only a handful. As a result, a 20-ion quantum computer may deliver a higher quantum volume than a 100-qubit superconducting machine. 

Achieving such fidelity requires the ions to be perfectly isolated, positioned exactly where they should be, and prevented from moving. They must be slowed down and cooled—both electrically and optically—before they can be precisely controlled. Only then can the qubits operate stably and perform calculations as intended. 

Traditional trapped-ion systems support around 20 useful qubits within a single trap. Adding more ions reduces the entanglement between the first and last ions, increasing errors. Scaling therefore requires linking multiple miniature ion traps into subsystems, much like integrating multiple cores into a classical CPU. But unlike classical processors, quantum information can’t be transmitted through standard wires—the qubits must be physically transported between traps so that one “core” can receive the information from another. 

This ion positioning and shuttling is handled by our shuttling control subsystem. It is a real-time electronic system that delivers the DC voltages and control waveforms needed to hold and transport ions. The subsystem includes a custom-designed ASIC located near the quantum processor (which generates control signals) along with control-signal sources, high-voltage amplifiers, low-noise filters, and other critical components. 

At Creotech Quantum, we design electronics tailored to our clients’ needs. Within Millenion, our role is to build a system capable of managing very large numbers of ions—ultimately supporting the project’s ambition of a 1,000-qubit trapped-ion computer. This requires individually controlling thousands of electronic channels with extreme precision. The environment is unforgiving: cryogenic temperatures (4 K), tight spatial constraints, rapid ion shuttling, and the constant battle against electrical noise all pose major challenges.