3 ms·

Quote: "The problem is that these huge cylinders, which can cost between $500,000 and $1 million each, are custom-made, and researchers say that only a few comp

Quote: "The problem is that these huge cylinders, which can cost between $500,000 and $1 million each, are custom-made, and researchers say that only a few companies, like BlueFors in Finland and Oxford Instruments in the UK, are producing high-quality ones." There, the next unicorn - why only UK & Finland and not a Silicon Valley start-up as well? In the end it's just tech that requires investment, and God help us, there are plenty of venture capitalists looking for next unicorn. I mean the quantum computing field is so hot these days that everyday you find a new article about it.

imglorp 7y ago
I'm a little unclear on the benefit here. Say I have a hard problem and want to spend say $15 million for one machine, and further say that my problem might be suitable for a quantum algorithm, and further say I'm okay restocking all the exotic cryogenics etc. At that price, I could buy at least 15,000 boring old machines using a boring distributed algorithm. Is that quantum algorithm really worth it?
- yjftsjthsd-h 7y ago
  I assume the idea is that the technology is still in its infancy and in a few years it will be competitive.
microtherion 7y ago
> "The problem is that these huge cylinders, which can cost between $500,000 and $1 million each, are custom-made, and researchers say that only a few companies, like BlueFors in Finland and Oxford Instruments in the UK, are producing high-quality ones." It's a wonder that manufacturers of audiophile equipment have not yet jumped into this space.
- boothby 7y ago
  Audiophile equipment is nothing like a multistage cryogenic refrigerator. It's made of pumps, seals, heat exchangers... and when you're using helium 4 as a coolant you really need zero leakage because it's an extremely expensive. And yeah, microwave systems need amplifiers going up, and filters going down. But they need to be extremely efficient -- and also entirely non-magnetic. But unlike audio, these components need to be linear in the gigahertz, not kilohertz. There's some similarity, but huge differences. It's weird that the title focuses on cables. There's a ton of expensive, labor-intensive components that can be bottlenecks.
  - microtherion 7y ago
    > Audiophile equipment is nothing like a multistage cryogenic refrigerator. I was thinking more in big picture terms. Extremely expensive cables that you sell to people who believe their effectiveness depends on observing them...
    - stwe_ 7y ago
      But here, the effectiveness really depends on using superconducting cables, i.e. there really is a difference if you use superconducting cables or e.g. silver-coated stainless steel.
Sanzig 7y ago
This is a poor choice for a unicorn. There are incumbents making dilution refrigerators already, and it's unclear as to how your products are any better. Yes, the lead times are long right now - but why? My assumption is that there is so little demand that these units are built-to-order, and additionally there's probably a bit of customization on each unit for end-customer requirements. I don't think there's a long lead time because they are busy. So, the volume probably isn't there yet for a company to swoop in with mass-produced cheaper dilution refrigerators. And even once there is - the incumbents are probably better positioned to capitalize on that than you are.

imglorp 7y ago

I'm a little unclear on the benefit here. Say I have a hard problem and want to spend say $15 million for one machine, and further say that my problem might be suitable for a quantum algorithm, and further say I'm okay restocking all the exotic cryogenics etc. At that price, I could buy at least 15,000 boring old machines using a boring distributed algorithm. Is that quantum algorithm really worth it?

yjftsjthsd-h 7y ago
I assume the idea is that the technology is still in its infancy and in a few years it will be competitive.

microtherion 7y ago

> "The problem is that these huge cylinders, which can cost between $500,000 and $1 million each, are custom-made, and researchers say that only a few companies, like BlueFors in Finland and Oxford Instruments in the UK, are producing high-quality ones." It's a wonder that manufacturers of audiophile equipment have not yet jumped into this space.

boothby 7y ago
Audiophile equipment is nothing like a multistage cryogenic refrigerator. It's made of pumps, seals, heat exchangers... and when you're using helium 4 as a coolant you really need zero leakage because it's an extremely expensive. And yeah, microwave systems need amplifiers going up, and filters going down. But they need to be extremely efficient -- and also entirely non-magnetic. But unlike audio, these components need to be linear in the gigahertz, not kilohertz. There's some similarity, but huge differences. It's weird that the title focuses on cables. There's a ton of expensive, labor-intensive components that can be bottlenecks.
- microtherion 7y ago
  > Audiophile equipment is nothing like a multistage cryogenic refrigerator. I was thinking more in big picture terms. Extremely expensive cables that you sell to people who believe their effectiveness depends on observing them...
  - stwe_ 7y ago
    But here, the effectiveness really depends on using superconducting cables, i.e. there really is a difference if you use superconducting cables or e.g. silver-coated stainless steel.

Sanzig 7y ago

This is a poor choice for a unicorn. There are incumbents making dilution refrigerators already, and it's unclear as to how your products are any better. Yes, the lead times are long right now - but why? My assumption is that there is so little demand that these units are built-to-order, and additionally there's probably a bit of customization on each unit for end-customer requirements. I don't think there's a long lead time because they are busy. So, the volume probably isn't there yet for a company to swoop in with mass-produced cheaper dilution refrigerators. And even once there is - the incumbents are probably better positioned to capitalize on that than you are.