FormFactor has announced an innovative cryogenic test service designed to accelerate quantum computing IC development and characterization. Quantum developers can now leverage our state-of-the-art Advanced Cryogenic Lab located in Boulder, Colorado, to characterize qubits and resonators using cryostats with groundbreaking probe sockets to accelerate development cycles by more than 2X, with no up-front capital investment.

The Advanced Cryogenic Lab features an integrated measurement solution developed by FormFactor and Keysight for pre-screening qubit devices at 50 millikelvin. We blogged about this solution late last year – New Integrated Measurement Solution for Advanced Quantum Development – in which we discussed the major factors leading to lengthy and costly development cycles, which this partnership addresses:

  • PQ500 Probe SocketComplicated fabrication process with multiple additive and subtractive steps required to produce a superconducting or spin qubit device
  • Time-consuming wire bonding and expensive packaging processes prior to cryogenic test and measurement
  • Testing devices at < 15 mK requires dilution refrigeration (DR) and long cooldown times exceeding 30 hours
  • Qubits that fail final deployment due to poor performance or parameter offsets require warming up the system and loading a new device

Quantum system engineers can now collect critical qubit performance data to quickly eliminate sub-optimal devices before integrating them into quantum computers, enabling more effective utilization of expensive dilution refrigerators. In addition, FormFactor’s innovative cryogenic probe interface replaces the current process of wire bonding a chip to a test board, eliminating days of sample preparation time.

Some test service program features:

  • 2X development cycle acceleration by pre-screening devices at sub-50 millikelvin to optimize dilution refrigerator utilization, and eliminate IC bonding/packaging delays
  • Custom probe interfaces with pressure-based temporary contact: typical 12 RF lines (up to 12 GHz) and 100 DC lines, with extensions to higher I/O connections possible
  • Dedicated application engineers and scientists to optimize test and measurement strategies
  • Timely access to equipment without the lead time or capital cost of a system purchase, available through single-day usage or multiple-day CryoPass™ at a discount

For more information, download a full description of our Advanced Cryogenic Lab services here. You can also review the press release announcement here.