The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has released a call for proposals for the construction of photonic quantum processors, with the goal of building a scalable and error-correcting prototype photonic quantum processor. The prototype should be able to run a general algorithm with high user-friendliness. The construction will be carried out in two phases, the first phase is planned to reach 8 qubits in 3 years; the second phase is planned to reach at least 64 photon qubits in four years, and 100 qubits if possible. The proposal solicitation ends on January 31, 2022.

There are different concepts for the development of quantum computers. The processor can be implemented using an ion trap or a nitrogen void (NV) center, or it can be implemented using a photonic circuit. In this case, qubits are based on photons, which are used as information carriers. The advantage of this technology is that the platform can run at room temperature, is easy to interface with quantum communication technology, and has great potential for expansion. However, compared with other systems, photon-based quantum processors have not been fully developed so far.

The German Aerospace Center is cooperating with industry companies, start-ups and other research institutions to jointly promote the development of quantum computing hardware and software, and increase the application range of quantum computers. As part of the DLR quantum computing initiative, DLR will be built in the next four years. Architecture of the prototype quantum computer.