Xanadu, a photonic quantum computing company, and HyperLight, a creator of the TFLN Chiplet™ platform, have achieved advancements in the development of thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic chips. This joint effort is intended to address current limitations in scaling photonic quantum hardware.
Through dedicated fabrication process development, the collaboration demonstrated waveguide losses below 2 dB/m in TFLN. The corresponding switch loss is approximately 20 milli-decibel (mdB), which is reported as one of the lowest loss values for an electro-optic switch serving photonic quantum computing applications. These results were achieved in a high-volume semiconductor production facility capable of fabricating wafers for commercial photonic quantum computing. The advancements build on the foundational successes that led to Xanadu’s Aurora demonstration, which utilized HyperLight’s TFLN Chiplet™ platform. HyperLight’s TFLN Chiplet™ platform combines the electro-optic properties of TFLN with scalable CMOS-compatible manufacturing processes.
The improvements in photonic chips contribute to Xanadu’s efforts in developing utility-scale photonic quantum computers. Zachary Vernon, CTO of Hardware at Xanadu, commented that the achieved performance in these new photonic chips supports the development of future generations of photonic quantum computers. Mian Zhang, CEO of HyperLight, noted the impact of TFLN technology across various applications, including quantum computing, data centers, and telecommunications. This collaboration reinforces Xanadu’s hardware development and contributes to the progress required to enable quantum computing.
Read the full announcement here.
July 30, 2025
