D-Wave Quantum Inc. announced that it has been awarded second year funding for the Improved Materials for Superconducting Qubits with Scalable Fabrication (SQFab) project by the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH). Awarded to D-Wave subsidiary Quantum Circuits, LLC, the SQFab project is one of four innovative programs selected by the U.S. Department of War (DOW) through NORDTECH, a regional consortium of non-pro?t accessible semiconductor R&D facilities, government labs, defense companies, academic institutions, and technology manufacturing organizations in and around New York State. NORDTECH is one of eight hubs composing the U.S. Microelectronics Commons (MEC) program, which is a DOW initiative executed through the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division and managed by the National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL).
The four programs are collectively receiving more than $25 million in second year funding after achieving key ?rst-year benchmarks by demonstrating signi?cant results in the design, fabrication, and characterization of key quantum computing components. D-Wave?s project aims to improve materials for superconducting qubits with scalable fabrication methods, supporting the development and advancement of next-generation microelectronics capabilities from research to manufacturing. The Microelectronics Commons seeks to accelerate domestic microelectronics prototyping, strengthen semiconductor supply chains, and expand U.S. leadership in critical technologies.
By bringing together industry, academia, and government partners, the program helps to bridge the gap between early-stage innovation and domestic manufacturing. The initiative plays a critical role in addressing supply chain vulnerabilities while fostering a robust semiconductor workforce and innovation pipeline. The SQFab mission is to co-develop technologies necessary to demonstrate scalable quantum error correction, using new materials, innovative quantum circuits and qubit control schemes.
