Imec and Diraq demonstrate eight silicon spin qubits on 300mm CMOS process

Imec and Diraq say they have shown coherent operation and readout of an eight-qubit silicon MOS spin array made on imec’s 300mm CMOS-compatible platform. The result pushes silicon quantum hardware beyond two-qubit demonstrations and points to a manufacturable path toward larger quantum processors.

Why it matters: - The demonstration shows industrial 300mm semiconductor manufacturing can support quantum processors beyond isolated qubits and two-qubit devices. - The result strengthens the case for silicon spin qubits as a scalable path because the devices use the same manufacturing base that underpins advanced chip production. - The work also suggests larger arrays may grow without a major increase in sensor count, wiring density or thermal load, which matters for compact quantum systems.

What happened: - Imec and Diraq demonstrated coherent operation and readout of an eight-qubit silicon MOS spin-qubit array. - The array was designed and fabricated on imec’s 300mm spin-qubit technology platform using a CMOS-compatible process. - The companies said the result was published in Nature Communications. - Andrew Dzurak, Diraq founder and CEO, said the same 300mm CMOS platform was used nine months earlier to show reliable fabrication of silicon MOS qubits.

The details: - The qubits were made on imec’s 300mm silicon spin-qubit platform after nearly a decade of process optimization and engineering. - The array was a linear eight-qubit device. - The earlier 2025 Nature paper from imec and Diraq showed industrially manufactured silicon spin qubits could reach fidelity levels required for quantum error correction. - This new work extends that progress from individual and two-qubit building blocks to a larger array while maintaining coherence and controllability. - Imec said its 300mm CMOS-compatible manufacturing can support quantum systems beyond isolated qubit pairs. - Diraq said the latest result came with no compromise in coherence.

Between the lines: - The main shift is from proof of qubit quality to proof of manufacturability at greater scale. - That matters because quantum computing has long been constrained by whether promising lab devices can be reproduced with semiconductor-style yield and scale. - Imec and Diraq are positioning silicon spin qubits as an industrial technology, not just a physics experiment. - The favorable readout scaling ratio is an important signal for future density and thermal management, but it is still an early-stage milestone rather than a finished processor.

What's next: - The next challenge is scaling from an eight-qubit array to larger devices while preserving coherence, controllability and readout efficiency. - Imec and Diraq are aiming for utility-scale quantum processors built with reproducible semiconductor manufacturing. - Diraq said it expects to keep the same development cadence as it scales the array size and tests larger designs.

The bottom line: - Imec and Diraq have moved silicon spin qubits one step closer to a manufacturing model that could support practical, large-scale quantum computers.