Our primary goal in this report is to analyze and quantify the commercial potential for quantum computers that use photonics for their main fabric. There are perhaps 10 models of such machines being commercialized at the present time, with PsiQuantum having attracted the largest funding to date and Xanadu attracting considerable attention, too. Others include Quandela, ORCA, QuiX Quantum, Photonic Inc., Nu Quantum, Qunnect, Aegiq, and Sparrow Quantum.
The field is still pre-commercial, but it has moved beyond pure laboratory curiosity. Companies are developing different photonic architectures, from silicon-photonic fault-tolerant systems to cloud-accessible photonic processors and data-center testbeds.
Of the serious contender technologies for quantum computers, photonic quantum computers seem the most “edgy” in that they (1) have an apparent path to significantly improved error correction and (2) offer a “natural path” to advanced quantum networks. In a photonic quantum computer, information can be encoded in properties of light such as path, polarization, phase, time bin, or continuous optical variables. Operations are performed using optical components, including beam splitters, phase shifters, interferometers, photon sources, detectors, and integrated photonic circuits. And with photonic quantum computers, there is no need for millikelvin refrigeration.
This report discusses in depth how these advantages can lead to commercial advances in materials discovery, drug development, chemistry simulation, cryptanalysis, logistics and optimization, and financial risk analysis. But all of these opportunities are currently thwarted by photon loss, producing high-quality single photons on demand, building ultra-efficient detectors, scaling low-loss photonic circuits, synchronizing photons, and implementing error correction with manageable resource overhead. Fault tolerance in photonic computers remains the central goal for photonic quantum computers
The field is still early, but the signal is clear: photonic quantum computing has moved from the optics bench into the industrial arena. It has received money from leading investors, including Black Rock, T.Rowe Price, In-Q-Tel, Quantonation, Amadeus, Capital, Microsoft, and Airbus.
A primary goal for this CIR report is to update CIR’s photonic computer forecasts with breakouts by application, speed and technology, network segment and type of data center. We also profile all the leading photonic quantum computer makers and related components makers.
