“Quantum technologies are expanding our toolbox”

You recently submitted a position paper to the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia outlining the path to becoming a “quantum technology state”. How did this come about?

In 2024, the state-funded EIN Quantum NRW initiative organized various workshops and discussions in which around 200 experts from the quantum community in North Rhine-Westphalia took part. Together, we determined our position: Where does our state stand in quantum technologies? Where are our strengths? And how do we stand in an international comparison?—Due to its central location in Europe and the densely populated metropolitan regions within short distances from each other, NRW has a lot of aces up its sleeve, especially as it has a very strong industrial base with many potential users, as well as manufacturers and suppliers from various areas of quantum technologies. On top of this is the high density of universities and research institutes with considerable expertise in this field of technology. Our state can build on these strengths. The position paper proposes measures with which politicians can activate the existing potential. We will continue to flesh out these proposals as part of the ongoing roadmapping process.

What is the potential here?

We have strong players and expertise in all three future markets: quantum computing, quantum communication and quantum sensor technology. But the networking of industry and research initiated by roadmapping is also important. We need a lively exchange of perspectives, requirements and expectations in order to be able to quickly turn scientific findings into marketable products. Ideally, this transfer of technology and knowledge will take place at jointly used test fields, transfer centers or research factories. In other words, infrastructures in which players from industry and research can develop, test and mature new hardware and software in exchange with each other. Such places are also in demand for practical training and further education. We need qualified young talent to build this industry of the future.

Is there enough talent?

From NRW’s perspective, around a dozen of our universities and colleges have firmly anchored quantum technologies in their research and teaching. In the last five years, an average of 450 students each have obtained Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees related to quantum technologies. This is in line with my experience as head of the Nonlinear Optics Group at Fraunhofer ILT. Quantum technology has a high scientific appeal, The topic is very appealing to young people. When I offer students topics for their Master’s thesis, I now have to promote conventional photonics because young people are drawn to quantum technology.

Back to the infrastructure: What does your community have in mind here?

One example is the quantum campus at Forschungszentrum Jülich, where an infrastructure with various quantum computing platforms is being developed in conjunction with the Jülich Supercomputing Center (JSC). In quantum computing in particular, the development of hardware and software and the identification of potential applications are almost synchronized. However, there will only be a limited number of quantum computers in the foreseeable future. It is therefore important that we create centers where users have access to hardware and software as well as competent advice. This is the only way they can adapt their business models to a world with high-performance quantum computers at an early stage and seize the associated opportunities in this future field. The Research Fab Microelectronics Germany is another good example of the development of test fields and infrastructures. NRW needs a similar application center in which quantum science and quantum engineering are closely interlinked. The aim is to create a new ecosystem that deals with enabling technologies for quantum computers, quantum sensors and quantum networks and communication; further develops manufacturing processes; optimizes system designs and miniaturizes them as quickly as possible to a chip format; tests the components; and gradually closes existing gaps at a technological level. The shared use of laboratory and equipment infrastructure has proven its worth in establishing such ecosystems, as it acts as a catalyst for technology transfer.

What role does the quantum internet node currently being assembled in Aachen play?

With funding from the state of NRW, we—the Fraunhofer ILT—were initially able to build and test the node in Delft with our Dutch colleagues from TNO. Now we have brought it to Aachen and are putting it into operation here. It is an optimized version of the node that Ronald Hansen’s team used to create a quantum-safe connection between two computers in Delft and The Hague for the first time. This was done via a standard telecom fiber that was already in the ground. We have contributed a quantum frequency converter that converts the single photons required for the quantum signal into the telecom band at 1,550 nm in order to transmit them through the fiber with low loss and virtually no noise. The task now is to further develop this technology and the individual components, if possible together with industrial partners.

What vision are you pursuing?

We will initially approach a quantum internet of the future via regionally limited “Metropolitan Scale Quantum Networks”. One or two technology components are still missing for the long haul. But we need these networks. As already mentioned, quantum computers will not replace conventional PCs for the time being; they are still too expensive to operate. It is therefore important to create secure and efficient connections between the distributed quantum computer platforms and quantum sensors via metropolitan-scale quantum networks. In the future, they will also enable remote access for industrial and scientific users. Distributed quantum computing is also conceivable – i.e. several interconnected computers forming a quantum system in order to scale capacity and performance. One of the things we have in mind is a connection from the Aachen node to the Jülich quantum campus and to the backbone of a central German test network in Bonn. Above all, the internet node offers us a practical testing ground in which we want to develop this technology with partners from industry and science towards market-ready solutions. And as coordinator of the NRW Quantum Roadmap, I can add that we have a very solid technological basis in quantum communication. We have outstanding experts, many potential users, short distances for the networks and our central location in Europe. The quantum internet of the future can grow in all directions from here.

That sounds like a new beginning. Does a trade fair like the World of Quantum contribute to this?

It helps to network the community and ensures visibility—in other words, outreach. The aim is to make potential users and suppliers aware of this young field of technology, which is in need of explanation. This has been achieved with lasers, which are also based on quantum technologies. Quantum technology 2.0 has now reached the point where we can no longer use phenomena such as uncertainty, wave-particle duality or quantization only in the collective laser system, but can control and trigger quantum systems individually and use phenomena such as entanglement and superposition. This opens up a wide range of fascinating possibilities. Quantum technologies expand our engineering toolbox on many levels. I consider their role comparable to that of space travel in the 1960s: They are the new benchmark for precision and the pinnacle of what can be developed with our current resources. And I am very excited to see what happens next—and what new things we will see at the World of Quantum.