Abu Dhabi’s TII to build region’s first-ever quantum computer

18/08/2021

Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) has started working on building the region’s first-ever quantum computer. The cryostat, the first frame of TII’s quantum computer being constructed in the UAE capital, has been unboxed. The historic advanced technology initiative, led by TII’s Quantum Research Centre (QRC), intends to offer the world a quantum advantage by building a supercomputer with exponential processing capabilities.

The cryostat is being unboxed and lifted off the shipping crate. This device plays a key role in achieving the extremely low temperature of 10 Milikelvin (mK) that the quantum chip needs to operate.

The cryostat is being positioned and hung from the frame, enabling it to be opened and closed. The frame contains the helium dilution refrigerator that helps maintain low temperatures using helium isotopes.

Two helium dilution refrigerators arrived in big wooden crates from Finland earlier this week. A critical component employs helium isotopes to chill quantum processors or the computer’s brain and store quantum information. The top level of the dilution fridge is at room temperature, with the temperature steadily lowering in the lower levels until the device reaches the extremely low temperature of 10 Milikelvin (mK) – one-hundredth of the temperature of outer space – that is required for the quantum chip to function.

The Quantum Research Centre team opens the outer shields of the refrigerator to reveal the chandelier. Located at the heart of the refrigerator, the chandelier enables the progressive stages to lower the temperature to the desired level.

Quantum computers use quantum mechanics phenomena like “superposition” and “entanglement” to generate and manipulate subatomic particles like electrons or photons – quantum bits are also known as “qubits” – to create exponentially stronger processing powers and assist in complex calculations that would take much longer to solve even by the world’s most powerful classical supercomputers. Traditional computers utilize bits, which are made up of combinations of ones and zeros. In contrast, quantum computers employ qubits, which are particles that may exist in two states simultaneously, allowing them to evaluate numerous outcomes at once.

This marks the final cooling stage of the chandelier. At the very centre, the mixture of two helium isotopes removes heat that allows it to reach a temperature of 10 Millikelvin (mK). The looping microwave communication cables enable other computers to work with the quantum chip.

The quantum computer is being built in collaboration with Abu Dhabi and Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech in Barcelona. Once it takes shape, the quantum computer will be useful in various fields, from drug discovery to battery design, as well as in a variety of artificial intelligence applications.