How it started
For decades in the making
Quantum Delft is built on developments going back almost twenty years, when Emeritus Professor Hans Mooij developed the first generation of flux qubits, the building blocks for quantum computers in 2002. The group working on solid-state quantum devices grew rapidly with dedicated funding from the government. In 2012, professor Leo Kouwenhoven further ignited the revolution by showing signatures of the existence of the Majorana, a particle that is also its own anti-particle. Other scientific highlights include the first loophole free Belltest (professor Ronald Hanson) and developments of spin qubits and transmons (Professor Lieven Vandersypen and professor Leo DiCarlo).
Installation in 1990 – source: Kivi.nl 175 jaar TU Delft – Erfgoed in 33 verhalen
As the field matured further and industrial interest grew, TNO and TU Delft joined forces to found QuTech. The organization formed several international partnerships, working closely with Intel in 2015 and collaborating with Microsoft on the establishment of Microsoft Quantum Lab Delft in 2017. Followed by a cooperative agreement with KPN, to work together on making quantum internet a reality and the teaming up of QuTech with ABN AMRO bank for creating quantum technology for secure banking.
Internationally speaking, the Netherlands – and TU Delft specifically – is one of the largest receivers of European Scientific Funding in the field of Quantum Technology. Based on published data, the Netherlands has received an estimated €123 million in research funding for 93 projects related to Quantum Technology between 2008 and 2018. For instance, subsidy of several million for the development of QuantumSoftware in 2017 and the creation of a European Quantum Flagship in 2019. In 2019 QuTech partnered with Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Twente and Leiden to form a national consortium. The Quantum Delta was born, with Quantum Delft as its physical heart. In 2018, the Quantum Inspire (QI) platform was launched, designed and built by QuTech to provide access to various quantum computation technologies.