Quantum computers and quantum communication devices require extraordinarily powerful microchips. Enter Applied Nanotools. The 15-person Edmonton company engineers photonic integrated circuits that use photons as well as electrical signals, providing the necessary speed, efficiency and reliability.
The circuits are destined for research institutes, startups and R&D divisions of large firms around the world — “anyone who’s working in the research space developing next-generation telecom and computing technology,” explains Cameron Horvath, director of integrated photonics at Applied Nanotools.
“We don’t manufacture the on-the-shelf items, but we work with the researcher behind the scenes to manufacture prototypes for them.”
While Horvath and his colleagues provide the engineering expertise to create those prototypes, they use the specialized equipment and cleanrooms at the University of Alberta's nanoFAB facilities to manufacture them.
“Our company would not exist today if it weren’t for nanoFAB,” says Horvath. “They offer a fee-for-service model that allows companies to access the equipment directly without that huge upfront capital investment.”
Fabricating on the smallest scale
Since 2001, the nanoFAB centre has been supporting academic and industrial research in micro- and nanoscale fabrication and characterization, catalyzing the translation of lab discoveries into high-impact commercial outcomes.
Today, it’s Western Canada’s largest open-access semiconductor manufacturing and materials characterization research facility. The nanoFAB boasts 20 full-time staff, 25,000 square feet of communal labs and cleanrooms and a comprehensive suite of CFI-funded nanotechnology tools, enabling semiconductor device manufacturing.
These include advanced lithography, deposition, etching, electron microscopy and spectroscopy systems required to create and host quantum technologies, including computing components, sensors and communication devices.
“We’re able to help people build and see things at the smallest scale in order to prototype and manufacture a new device or understand the performance of a material in a device,” says nanoFAB director Eric Flaim.
That infrastructure is available to graduate students, academic researchers, early-stage startups and established companies alike, allowing them to develop, iterate and scale up their ideas. Rather than offering a fixed menu of services, the nanoFAB works closely with partners to understand their goals and develop tailored solutions.
“Tell us what you’re trying to do, and we try to develop the capability and the expertise to support those end goals,” Flaim explains.
Lifting up the entire quantum value chain
The centre has also trained more than 2,400 highly qualified personnel over the last 20 years, many of whom go on to launch startups or join established firms — companies that continue to rely on the nanoFAB’s infrastructure to thrive.
That virtuous circle has contributed to success stories like Applied Nanotools and Toronto-based quantum computing leader Xanadu, as well as companies working in defence, remote sensing and clean energy technologies.
Now, as the demand for the nanoFAB facilities continues to grow, a recent CFI grant is funding upgrades to aging and oversubscribed equipment for fabricating devices and characterizing materials. Horvath welcomes that support, particularly at a time when other countries are making significant investments in quantum innovation.
“Companies of our size and of all sizes generally are needing to continue to innovate to keep up with the state of the art,” Horvath says. “So it’s important that the nanoFAB continues to grow, as it allows the companies in the space to grow along with it and uplift the entire quantum value chain.”
The research project featured in this story also benefits from funding from Prairies Economic Development Canada.
