IBM subsidiary Anderon has finalised a $1-billion award under the CHIPS and Science Act with the US Department of Commerce to accelerate its R&D efforts to advance the country’s quantum wafer manufacturing capabilities.
Anderon operates a state-of-the-art 300-millimeter pure-play quantum wafer foundry, backed by an additional $1-billion investment from IBM. Headquartered in Albany, New York, the new venture serves the quantum industry as a pure-play foundry, offering quantum wafer manufacturing to customers across the ecosystem.
“This agreement with the Department of Commerce strengthens our ability to deliver the manufacturing scale the quantum industry needs,” says Mukesh Khare, CEO of Anderon. “We’re building a foundation that will let quantum move from research breakthroughs to real-world impact.”
Jay Gambetta, director, IBM Research and IBM Fellow, adds: “IBM’s quantum roadmap requires a manufacturing foundation that can scale at the pace our work demands. Anderon’s focus on wafer fabrication gives us exactly that and strengthens our ability to execute and accelerate progress toward the next era of quantum computing.”
Anderon offers specialised wafers supporting high-performance superconducting qubit arrays, quantum input/output signaling, and readout signal chain components – foundational capabilities that support a range of quantum architectures. It plans to expand to other quantum modalities in the future.
The company has already achieved a significant operational milestone with the first quantum wafers now running through its manufacturing facility. This early production activity demonstrates the company’s ability to quickly translate advanced pre-production research into commercial-grade quantum wafer technologies.
Quantum computing has the potential to drive breakthroughs across industries – from advanced materials and chemistry to optimisation and cybersecurity. As the technology matures toward large-scale commercial applications, scalable manufacturing will be critical to realising its full potential.
Anderon will provide an advanced manufacturing foundation which is needed to produce quantum wafers at production scale to accelerate innovation, strengthen domestic supply chains, and support the continued growth of a robust quantum ecosystem.