Quobly, ST to develop FDSOI process for quantum computing

Startup Quobly SA (Grenoble, France) has formed an exclusive partnership with STMicroelectronics to develop a manufacturing process to support quantum computing.

To fund the development Quobly, formerly known as Siquance, is preparing to close a Series A round of equity funding early in 2025 which company is expecting close at €65 million.

The partners will use ST’s 28nm FDSOI volume manufacturing process as a starting point with a first commercial products becoming available in 2027, Quobly said. “By the end of 2025 we expect to have all the quantum equipment in ST at Crolles; by 2026 to have a 100-qubit chip with embedded cryogenic logic,” Maud Vinet, CEO of Quobly told eeNews Europe, in a teleconference.

The use of a commercially-proven semiconductor manufacturing process as a starting point will provide access to the complete semiconductor ecosystem speeding up development and bringing down costs, said Vinet. Vinet emphasized that a global race is now on between many companies in all regions of the world to develop effective, scalable quantum computing.

Leveraging the established semiconductor ecosystem to speed up development is a key part of Quobly’s strategy, Vinet said.

Quobly aims to break the 1-million-qubit barrier by 2031, targeting applications ranging from pharmaceuticals, finance, materials science and complex systems modeling, including climate and fluid dynamics simulations.

Quobly’s approach to quantum computing is characterized by the use of silicon spin qubits and cryogenic control electronics that can operate at the low temperature required by the qubits. “Semiconductor spin qubits operate at 500mK to 1K temperature, a higher temperature than superconducting qubits, which require temperatures down to 10mK, Vinet told eeNews Europe in a teleconference, indicating that the relaxed temperature requirement made for easier implementation.

Initially, Quobly and ST will adapt ST’s 28nm FDSOI process to target a 100-qubit quantum machine and to demonstrate scalability to beyond 100k physical qubits. This will include the creation of a physical design kit (PDK) for cryogenic functions.

Vinet said that while the process technology is an exclusive development for Quobly optimized for silicon spin qubits there may be opportunities for third parties to develop IP to target the process. Vinet said that Quobly has its own design of cryogenic transimpedance amplifier (TIA) but that third-party memory design IP and other functional IP could be welcome.

It appears that, at least initially, ST will act a development and manufacturing partner for Quobly and will not be free to offer the process, once it is complete, to other companies wishing to develop quantum processors.

“This collaboration is building on ST’s IDM strengths, centered around our Crolles facility, integrating together our process R&D expertise, our circuit design know-how and volume manufacturing,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, president of the MCU, digital and RF business unit at ST, in a statement issued by Quobly. “We truly believe that pairing Quobly’s quantum expertise with ST’s FDSOI knowledge and manufacturing will allow to accelerate economically viable, large-scale quantum computing solutions,” he added.