Quobly Gains Access to CEA-Leti’s FAMES Pilot Line

Quobly, a French silicon quantum company, and research institute CEA-Leti have deepened their long-standing collaboration. Quobly will now have access to the FAMES Pilot Line, a European semiconductor fabrication resource. This development, announced on September 28, complements Quobly’s existing industrial partnership with STMicroelectronics. The collaboration is significant because Quobly’s approach leverages standard chip manufacturing, which means process development on shared fab equipment directly contributes to the company’s plans for scaling its processors.

Announcement Details

This announcement signifies a step forward in their collaboration, not a hardware achievement. Quobly gains access to FAMES equipment and process modules to test new process flows and patterning methods for future processor generations. CEA-Leti positions FAMES as a European initiative to foster more energy-efficient chip designs, and the FAMES Pilot Line page features the same announcement.

Key highlights from the announcement include:

• Quobly launched in 2022, building on over 15 years of research from CEA-Leti and CNRS.
• Its QSOI architecture integrates silicon spin qubits with an FD-SOI platform, currently in the process of industrialization with STMicroelectronics on 300 mm infrastructure.
• In 2016, CEA-Leti and its partners demonstrated a silicon spin qubit created using an industrial CMOS process on a 300 mm wafer.
• Quobly plans to commercialize its first quantum computer, Alloy Pioneer, by late 2026.
• The company’s roadmap aims for one million qubits by 2032.

Nicolas Daval, Quobly’s chief engineering officer, stated that FAMES access “adds another capability to this ecosystem.” The target of one million qubits by 2032 is Quobly’s internal projection.

The Allure of Silicon and What Remains Undisclosed

Silicon spin qubits attract companies because they can, in theory, utilize the same CMOS fabs that already produce billions of chips. If successful, this could enable scaling through existing manufacturing infrastructure rather than requiring new, specialized production lines.

However, this reliance on the semiconductor supply chain introduces its own vulnerabilities. A global study reported by the Des Moines Register revealed the quantum industry‘s significant dependence on cross-border suppliers and manufacturing.

The announcement omitted several details. It doesn’t disclose financial terms, specific milestone dates, and intellectual property arrangements for the FAMES access. Furthermore, no new figures for qubit count, fidelity, error rate, operating temperature, process node, or yield were provided concerning the work FAMES will facilitate. Other silicon initiatives continue to build ecosystem support, such as the Virginia Quantum Hub launched by George Mason.