The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Rome, New York, has awarded PsiQuantum a $10.8 million contract to deliver advanced quantum chip capabilities for U.S. Air Force applications. This latest award builds on a partnership established in 2022
and aims to expand the capabilities of AFRL’s quantum research programs.
This phase will give AFRL a design space for comparative quantum circuits on PsiQuantum’s circuit tapeout, part of its ongoing Omega quantum chipset manufacturing with GlobalFoundries. As AFRL’s hardware design partner, PsiQuantum will supply its high-performance Barium Titanate (BTO) Electro-Optic phase shifters and integrate BTO into AFRL-designed optical circuits.
PsiQuantum’s 300mm BTO material is believed to be the world’s highest-performing electro-switch material. The company will also provide essential quantum circuit components. Once designed, constructed, and screened for performance, the company will deliver these completed chips to AFRL, which will then validate their capabilities to address other Air Force use cases.
“The team at AFRL has long understood the value of cutting-edge silicon photonics, and we are grateful to continue our work with the lab to deliver our state-of-the-art quantum chip capabilities to the U.S. Air Force,” said Prof. Jeremy O’Brien, PsiQuantum Co-Founder and CEO. “This partnership will enable PsiQuantum to share our technology, which is manufactured in a world-class, high-volume semiconductor fab, with AFRL to validate and explore future applications that would benefit the U.S. Air Force. As the global race for utility-scale quantum computing continues, this kind of collaboration could not be more important, and we’re thrilled to be able to partner with technical leaders across the U.S. government who share our vision.”
“Ongoing advancements from our industry partners in fault-tolerant quantum computing, and the expertise in silicon photonics, are proving to be a significant asset to our mission. We are not only observing promising developments in quantum information science but are also playing a proactive role in enhancing the national security landscape through these emerging capabilities,” stated Dr. Michael Hayduk, Deputy Director at AFRL Information Directorate.
The award is part of AFRL’s broader mission to develop advanced quantum information technologies through collaboration with commercial and academic partners. The $10.8M firm-fixed-price contract (FA8750-25-C-B030) will run through May 2027. Work will be performed in Palo Alto, California; Malta, New York; and Albany, New York, integrating an optical phase shifter in a photonics platform for quantum computing applications. This contract provides design space for comparative Air Force Research Laboratory-based quantum circuits on the circuit tape-out, software for basic component construction, and chip delivery.
PsiQuantum is the developer of the Omega photonic quantum chipset, a quantum photonic chipset purpose-built for utility-scale quantum computing, which it announced earlier this year. The Omega platform integrates all components needed to build million-qubit-scale fault-tolerant quantum systems and is being manufactured at semiconductor scale using GlobalFoundries’ Fab 8, the highest level of technical maturity and scale in a field that is often confined to research labs and small-scale prototypes.. PsiQuantum also anticipates breaking ground later this year on two data center-scale Quantum Compute Centers in Brisbane, Australia, and Chicago, Illinois.
About PsiQuantum
Founded in 2016 and based in Palo Alto, California, PsiQuantum is developing fault-tolerant photonic quantum computing systems using high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. The company’s approach leverages scalable cryogenic infrastructure to enable rapid deployment of utility-scale quantum technologies.
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Source/Photo Credit: PsiQuantum
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