ENSCHEDE--Dutch technology company QuiX Quantum has delivered the first complete quantum computer developed by a company in the Netherlands to the German Aerospace Center, marking a milestone for the country’s emerging quantum technology sector.
The machine, named Carina, was developed over nearly four years by the Enschede-based company, which originated as a spin-off from the University of Twente. The German Aerospace Center, known as DLR, will now conduct several months of testing to determine whether the system performs as intended.
Carina is described as the world’s first complete quantum computer to use photons, or particles of light, as its qubits. This approach allows the system to operate largely at room temperature, unlike many competing quantum computers that must be cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero.
Quantum computers use the principles of quantum mechanics to conduct calculations that could eventually exceed the capabilities of conventional computers in selected areas. The technology is considered to have potential applications in medicine, drug development, materials science, battery technology and other research-intensive fields.
QuiX Quantum Chief Commercial Officer Robin Wittland described the delivery to a German state institution as both an endorsement of Dutch technological capacity and a signal that the Netherlands must move more quickly to support domestic innovation.
According to Wittland, the Netherlands has strong research and engineering capabilities but needs to accelerate investment, procurement and the industrial use of emerging technologies.
He argued that the Dutch government should become an early customer of locally developed technology, pointing to Germany’s model of financing start-ups to build quantum systems and then subjecting those systems to rigorous testing.
The DLR development program is valued at approximately 14 million euros. QuiX Quantum stressed that the amount represents the value of the wider development program rather than the commercial price of a completed machine.
Carina is not yet designed to outperform conventional computers on practical industrial problems. Wittland compared its present significance to that of the earliest transistors, which did not immediately surpass existing machines but introduced an architecture that could later be manufactured, integrated and expanded.
He said Carina represents a step toward building quantum systems that can eventually be produced and deployed at an industrial scale.
QuiX Quantum was founded in 2019 and initially concentrated on photonic chips that process information using light. The company names its systems after constellations and has previously developed the Alquor quantum processor and the Bia quantum cloud environment.
The Dutch company now faces competition from major international technology firms, including Google and IBM. QuiX Quantum maintains that smaller deep-technology companies can compete by selecting the right technological architecture and solving engineering challenges more quickly.
Philippe Bouyer, director of the Dutch quantum sector organization QDNL, said successful validation by DLR would provide strong evidence that Europe, and the Netherlands in particular, can deliver complete quantum systems.
The delivery also raises broader questions about whether Dutch institutions are moving quickly enough to support local technology companies as they transition from research and development into commercial and industrial use.
QuiX Quantum warned that countries purchasing quantum technology at an early stage will not only acquire the systems, but will also help establish the industries, expertise and supply chains that grow around them.
Photo: The Carina quantum computer, the first built in the Netherlands and the world’s first to use photonic qubits. Undated. - Credit: QuiX Quantum / QuiX Quantum.
