Dutch-Finnish industry partnership establishes a ‘one-stop shop’ to deliver scalable cryogenic I/O cabling assemblies for applications in quantum science and technology
Better together. That’s the headline take on a newly inked technology partnership between Bluefors, a heavyweight Finnish supplier of cryogenic measurement systems, and Delft Circuits, a Dutch manufacturer of specialist I/O cabling solutions designed for the scale-up and industrial deployment of next-generation quantum computers.
The drivers behind the tie-up are clear: as quantum systems evolve – think vastly increased qubit counts plus ever-more exacting requirements on gate fidelity – developers in research and industry will reach a point where current coax cabling technology doesn’t cut it anymore. The answer? Collaboration, joined-up thinking and product innovation.
In short, by integrating Delft Circuits’ Cri/oFlex® cabling technology into Bluefors’ dilution refrigerators, the vendors’ combined customer base will benefit from a complete, industrially proven and fully scalable I/O solution for their quantum systems. The end-game: to overcome the quantum tech industry’s biggest bottleneck, forging a development pathway from quantum computing systems with hundreds of qubits today to tens of thousands of qubits by 2030.
Joined-up thinking
For context, Cri/oFlex® cryogenic RF cables comprise a stripline (a type of transmission line) based on planar microwave circuitry – essentially a conducting strip encapsulated in dielectric material and sandwiched between two conducting ground planes. The use of the polyimide Kapton® as the dielectric ensures Cri/oFlex® cables remain flexible in cryogenic environments (which are necessary to generate quantum states, manipulate them and read them out), with silver or superconducting NbTi providing the conductive strip and ground layer. The standard product comes as a multichannel flex (eight channels per flex) with a range of I/O channel configurations tailored to the customer’s application needs, including flux bias lines, microwave drive lines, signal lines or read-out lines.
“Reliability is a given with Cri/oFlex®,” says Robby Ferdinandus, global chief commercial officer for Delft Circuits and a driving force behind the partnership with Bluefors. “By integrating components such as attenuators and filters directly into the flex,” he adds, “we eliminate extra parts and reduce points of failure. Combined with fast thermalization at every temperature stage, our technology ensures stable performance across thousands of channels, unmatched by any other I/O solution.”
Technology aside, the new partnership is informed by a “one-stop shop” mindset, offering the high-density Cri/oFlex® solution pre-installed and fully tested in Bluefors cryogenic measurement systems. For the end-user, think turnkey efficiency: streamlined installation, commissioning, acceptance and, ultimately, enhanced system uptime.
Scalability is front-and-centre too, thanks to Delft Circuits’ pre-assembled and tested side-loading systems. The high-density I/O cabling solution delivers up to 50% more channels per side-loading port to Bluefors’ (current) High Density Wiring, providing a total of 1536 input or control lines to an XLDsl cryostat. In addition, more wiring lines can be added to multiple KF ports as a custom option.
Doubling up for growth
Reciprocally, there’s significant commercial upside to this partnership. Bluefors is the quantum industry’s leading cryogenic systems OEM and, by extension, Delft Circuits now has access to the former’s established global customer base, amplifying its channels to market by orders of magnitude. “We have stepped into the big league here and, working together, we will ensure that Cri/oFlex® becomes a core enabling technology on the journey to quantum advantage,” notes Ferdinandus.
That view is amplified by Reetta Kaila, director for global technical sales and new products at Bluefors (and, alongside Ferdinandus, a main-mover behind the partnership). “Our market position in cryogenics is strong, so we have the ‘muscle’ and specialist know-how to integrate innovative technologies like Cri/oFlex® into our dilution refrigerators,” she explains.
A win-win, it seems, along several coordinates. “The Bluefors sales teams are excited to add Cri/oFlex® into the product portfolio,” Kaila adds. “It’s worth noting, though, that the collaboration extends across multiple functions – technical and commercial – and will therefore ensure close alignment of our respective innovation roadmaps.”
Scalable I/O will accelerate quantum innovation
Deconstructed, Delft Circuits’ value proposition is all about enabling, from an I/O perspective, the transition of quantum technologies out of the R&D lab into at-scale practical applications. More specifically: Cri/oFlex® technology allows quantum scientists and engineers to increase the I/O cabling density of their systems easily – and by a lot – while guaranteeing high gate fidelities (minimizing noise and heating) as well as market-leading uptime and reliability.
To put some hard-and-fast performance milestones against that claim, the company has published a granular product development roadmap that aligns Cri/oFlex® cabling specifications against the anticipated evolution of quantum computing systems – from 150+ qubits today out to 40,000 qubits and beyond in 2029 (see figure below, “Quantum alignment”).
The resulting milestones are based on a study of the development roadmaps of more than 10 full-stack quantum computing vendors – a consolidated view that will ensure the “guiding principles” of Delft Circuits’ innovation roadmap align versus the aggregate quantity and quality of qubits targeted by the system developers over time.
