The Siegen-based startup eleQtron is building state-of-the-art quantum computers for the German Aerospace Center (DLR). In the future, they are to solve tasks where previous supercomputers have failed. Over the next few years, DLR will invest a total of 208.5 million euros in five companies across Germany that are developing this technology. The five companies, including Eleqtron, have different focuses and are pursuing different concepts for the development of quantum computers.
The quantum computers at eleQtron are manufactured on the basis of ion traps. Charged atoms cannot escape from an ion trap, as an electromagnetic field holds them in place. A laser and radio or microwaves can then change the state of the ions in a targeted manner.
The eleQtron company was founded in 2020 by the Chair of Quantum Optics at the University of Siegen and has since developed into a startup employing international experts. The three founders of eleQtron, Christof Wunderlich, Michael Johanning and Jan Leisse, are confident that quantum computers are the technology of the future. "The potential is huge, because quantum computers facilitate enormous advances in a wide range of fields: from materials research, logistics or supply chain management in industry, through individualized products in the pharmaceutical industry, to big data and risk management in finance," the founders of eleQtron explain.
