Engineering Quantum Computers for the FTQC Era: A Little About a Lot!

Quantum computers are transitioning from the NISQ (Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum) to the FTQC (Fault Tolerant Quantum Computing) Era. That transition is facilitated by massive scaling, not only in the Quantum Processor, but also in the Control and Readout plane. A direct outcome of such scaling is the stringent thermal engineering and cabling challenges that can only be addressed by novel engineering designs of the cryogenic cooler. As such, the scaling of quantum computers for the FTQC era stipulates innovation in the quantum modality, electrical, and mechanical engineering domains. Out of the three aforementioned domains, the mechanical engineering aspects of a quantum computer are, relatively speaking, unknown within the electrical engineering community. This lecture will attempt to bridge this knowledge gap by describing the thermodynamic concepts behind the cryogenic cooling operation along with a discussion on the thermal engineering challenges in scaling quantum computers and its direct impact on the quantum computer architecture. Other topics will include design strategies for signal integrity, component optimization, and instrumentation.