Quantum-Classical Collaboration: Spin Qubit Control at Near Absolute Zero

A groundbreaking collaboration between Emergence Quantum and DiraqANFF‑enabled spin-out companies from USYD and UNSW –  have demonstrated integrated control of qubits at milli-kelvin temperatures.  This achievement marks a critical advancement toward scalable quantum computers.

This major milestone was achieved by the combined efforts of the research teams lead by Professor David Reilly (Founder/CEO of Emergence Quantum) and Professor Andrew Dzurak (Founder/CEO of Diraq), with essential support from both RPF / ANFF-NSW@USYD and ANFF-NSW@UNSW.  Published in Nature on 26 June 2025, the research demonstrates the world’s first cryogenic control chip capable of operating spin qubits at milli-kelvin temperatures—just above absolute zero.

This innovation addresses a critical bottleneck in scaling quantum computers from fewer than 100 qubits to millions, a leap necessary for real-world applications. Reilly’s team developed the silicon chip that integrates control electronics directly with the qubits engineered by Dzurak’s team, overcoming long-standing concerns about heat and electrical interference at ultra-low temperatures. Crucially, this breakthrough proves that spin qubits, based on CMOS technology, can be scaled using existing semiconductor infrastructure.

This achievement is the result of deep collaboration between the University of Sydney and UNSW, enabled by ANFF-NSW, and exemplifies how strategic support accelerates the commercialisation of frontier research. It highlights ANFF-NSW’s vital role in empowering innovation not only in the quantum sector but across the broader advanced manufacturing landscape.

This work is a result of deep collaboration between the University of Sydney and UNSW enabled by ANFF-NSW, to accelerate the path to market for spin-out companies Emergence Quantum and Diraq. It marks a transformative step toward practical quantum machines and highlights the ANFF-NSW’s strategic role in enabling frontier research and innovation in the quantum sector – and beyond.

Quantum engineers use ANFF-NSW to created a “Schrödinger’s cat”

UNSW engineers have demonstrated a well-known quantum thought experiment in the real world. Their findings deliver a new and more robust way to perform quantum computations – and they have important implications for error correction, one of the biggest obstacles standing between them and a working quantum computer.

“No one has ever seen an actual cat in a state of being both dead and alive at the same time, but people use the Schrödinger’s cat metaphor to describe a superposition of quantum states that differ by a large amount,” says UNSW Professor Andrea Morello, leader of the team that conducted the research, published recently in the journal Nature Physics

UNSW media release link: