Key Technologies and Applications of Industrialized Large-Scale High-Speed Programmable Photonic Quantum Computing Chips

Introduction

The Chip Hub for Integrated Photonics Xplore (CHIPX), in collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and TuringQ Co., Ltd., has established China's first photonic chip pilot line. Breakthroughs have been achieved in wafer-level TFLN photonic chips, Femtosecond laser multidimensional direct writing, and Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) technologies, enabling the mass production of large-scale, high-speed programmable photonic quantum chips and advancing the quantum computing industry.

Industrialized Ultra-Large-Scale, Ultra-Low-Loss, High-Speed Programmable Photonic Quantum Computing Chips

Leveraging the advanced nano-fabrication capabilities of China's first photonic chip pilot line, the team researched ultra-low loss waveguide design and multi-level photonic device optimization. Breakthroughs were achieved in high-precision etching, low-loss coupling, high-uniformity wafer-scale manufacturing, and femtosecond laser direct writing technology, enabling monolithic integration of over 1000 photonic components with loss < 0.1 dB/cm. This facilitated the generation of 56 photon achievement on a single chip, surpassing the quantum supremacy threshold and earning the "Top 10 Advances in Chinese Chip Science" award. Using TFLN, GHz-speed electro-optic modulators were developed, resulting in a 32×32 ultrafast programmable TFLN chip operating at 10 GHz. To accelerate the empowerment of various internet application scenarios by quantum computing, the team designed a quantum-classical hybrid computing architecture, supporting the solution of problems with over 100,000 variables and tensor network simulations exceeding 100 qubits, enabling a modular large-scale hybrid integrated system.

Photonic Quantum Chips Accelerate Computational Power Supply and Data-Intelligent Empowerment, Underlying Technologies Drive IT Transformation

The outcomes accelerate advances in internet-enabled fields including medical R&D, fintech, optical computing, and interconnects. In healthcare, photonic quantum chips, through the quantum-classical hybrid computing architecture and cloud platforms, enable exponential efficiency gains in protein folding prediction and drug molecule design, achieving a thousandfold efficiency leap in targeted cancer drug development. In finance, the computational power provided by photonic quantum chips, combined with quantum algorithms, demonstrates higher timeliness and accuracy in risk management and portfolio optimization. As key underlying technologies, wafer-level TFLN chips and CPO underpin optical computing and interconnect. Their high programmability, low power consumption, and large bandwidth drive adoption across diverse optical computing scenarios and advance optical interconnects in data centers, significantly reducing global energy consumption. This directly addresses the computational power bottlenecks faced by internet applications like AI large model training and real-time rendering. Based on the project's technological breakthroughs, TuringQ has successfully commercialized products like TFLN modulators, completed five funding rounds in four years, reaching a valuation of 4 billion CNY, and secured POs worth 100 million CNY in the first half of 2025, achieving breakthrough development.

Breaking Through Industrial Bottlenecks, Photonic Quantum Computing Advances to Pilot Production, Driving Leapfrog Development in Computing Power

Addressing post-Moore's Law computational demands, the team has advanced industrialized photonic quantum computing through wafer-scale programmable lithium niobate photonic quantum chips and established China's first photonic chip pilot line. This enabled the development of a room-temperature operational photonic quantum computer and a Quantum Intelligence Computing Center. Using quantum-accelerated AI training, industrialized algorithm deployment and application exploration are underway in quantum chemistry simulation, protein design, logistics scheduling, financial portfolio optimization, and risk management, providing a viable industrial pathway. The full-chain capability from chip design to packaging leverages advanced technology and scale-up to attract upstream and downstream partners, building a complete industrial ecosystem that upgrades and radiates into emerging fields. This effort sustainably supports China's photonic quantum and advanced semiconductor science and industrialization, laying a foundation for China's new-quality internet in the AI era.