Universal Quantum has launched an integrated quantum processing unit (iQPU) designed to make quantum computers easier and more cost-efficient to manufacture, deploy, and scale.

According to the company, the trapped-ion iQPU combines a 400 mm sq trapped-ion compute surface with a “built-in ultra-low noise control technology” and modular chip-to-chip interconnect (UQConnect) interfaces to address what Universal Quantum describes as some of quantum computing’s “hardest scaling challenges.”

Fabricated on a commercial 200mm semiconductor foundry line using industry-standard design and manufacturing tools, the iQPU has a Quantum Charge-Coupled Device (QCCD) architecture that moves ions across the chip, enabling flexible, long-range connections between qubits rather than fixing each qubit to a single location.

Universal Quantum said the iQPU will be integrated into the systems it is currently building for customers, including the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which has signed a €67 million ($75m) contract for two scalable quantum computers that will support space mission planning, climate modeling, and material design applications.

“The question is no longer whether quantum computing can work, but how we build enough high-quality qubits to solve problems that matter,” said Sebastian Weidt, CEO and co-founder of Universal Quantum. “The iQPU allows us to combine our world record interconnect technology with a chip architecture that can control qubits at scale and is manufactured in commercial silicon foundries. It opens up an exciting route for us from today’s systems to the utility-scale quantum computers the world needs.”

Spun out of the University of Sussex in 2018, Brighton-based Universal Quantum was founded with the aim of building a quantum computer that is helpful for humanity.

Last month, the company raised more than $100 million in a Series A funding round, co-led by DCVC and Firgun Ventures. At the time, Universal Quantum said the capital would be used to support the continued development and commercialization of its quantum technology, the opening of its Singaporean R&D center, and expansion across the US, Japan, and Germany.