SkyWater’s Commercially Fabricated Qubits Power D-Wave’s Landmark Achievement in Quantum Supremacy

Rhea-AI Summary

SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT) and D-Wave Quantum have achieved a significant breakthrough in quantum computing. D-Wave's Advantage2™ annealing quantum computer prototype, fabricated by SkyWater, has demonstrated quantum supremacy in quantum simulation, as published in the AAAS journal Science.

The research confirms that D-Wave's quantum computer outperformed one of the world's most powerful classical supercomputers in solving complex magnetic materials simulation problems. This achievement is particularly significant for materials discovery, as magnetic materials are important in medical imaging, electronics, superconductors, and various other applications.

The partnership between SkyWater and D-Wave, spanning a decade at the Minnesota fab, combines SkyWater's specialized process integration and fabrication expertise with D-Wave's superconducting materials knowledge. This collaboration, supported by SkyWater's DOD Trusted Foundry status, strengthens U.S. leadership in advanced computing and domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

Positive

• Achieved quantum supremacy, demonstrating technological leadership
• Successfully fabricated commercial quantum computing components
• DOD Trusted Foundry status strengthens market position
• 10-year proven partnership with D-Wave demonstrates long-term stability

Negative

• None.

Insights

Financial Analyst

SkyWater Technology's achievement with D-Wave represents a strategic positioning win in the emerging quantum computing manufacturing space. The breakthrough, published in the prestigious Science journal, validates that SkyWater-manufactured quantum processors can solve problems beyond the capabilities of classical supercomputers – a critical milestone in quantum computing's evolution from theoretical to practical applications.

From a competitive standpoint, this positions SkyWater as one of few U.S.-based manufacturers with proven quantum fabrication capabilities. The decade-long partnership with D-Wave demonstrates SkyWater's commitment to developing specialized fabrication processes for quantum technologies, creating significant barriers to entry for potential competitors. This differentiation is particularly valuable in a semiconductor industry increasingly commoditized at mature nodes.

While the announcement doesn't mention immediate revenue implications, SkyWater's DOD Trusted Foundry status combined with proven quantum manufacturing capabilities creates a compelling value proposition for government contracts and security-sensitive applications. The commercial quantum computing market remains nascent, but SkyWater now holds a verified manufacturing position in the supply chain.

Particularly noteworthy is that this breakthrough occurred in SkyWater's 200mm fab, demonstrating that cutting-edge innovation isn't to leading-edge nodes. This suggests SkyWater can leverage existing infrastructure for high-value specialized manufacturing, potentially improving return on invested capital compared to the massive investments required for leading-edge nodes.

The key question for investors is commercialization timeline – quantum computing faces challenges in scaling to practical applications beyond research. However, SkyWater now has demonstrated capabilities that position it advantageously as the market develops, with potential for premium pricing on specialized quantum manufacturing services.

Technology Expert

The quantum supremacy achievement between SkyWater and D-Wave represents a significant technological milestone with distinct characteristics that separate it from previous quantum computing breakthroughs. Unlike earlier quantum supremacy demonstrations focused on synthetic problems, D-Wave's system specifically outperformed classical supercomputers in magnetic materials simulation – a domain with immediate practical applications across industries including medical imaging, electronics, and superconductor development.

What's technically remarkable is that this was achieved using an annealing quantum architecture, which differs from the gate-based approaches pursued by companies like IBM and Google. Annealing quantum computers are specialized for optimization problems and simulations, making this achievement particularly valuable for materials science applications.

SkyWater's manufacturing contribution is technically sophisticated and difficult to replicate. Fabricating functional superconducting qubits requires expertise in specialized materials deposition, precisely controlled film thicknesses at nanometer scales, and complex multi-layer fabrication processes. The deposition of superconducting materials with the necessary coherence properties requires exceptional purity and process control that few manufacturers globally can achieve.

This manufacturing capability creates a substantial technological moat. While quantum algorithms can be developed in software, the physical qubits require specialized fabrication capabilities that represent years of accumulated knowledge and infrastructure investment. SkyWater has demonstrated the ability to translate experimental quantum designs into manufacturable devices – bridging the gap between laboratory demonstrations and commercial viability.

The achievement creates potential for a virtuous technological cycle: better quantum computers enable more advanced materials simulation, potentially leading to discoveries of improved superconducting materials that could enhance future quantum processors. This positions SkyWater at a critical junction in quantum computing's evolution from theoretical possibility to practical technology.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. & PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SkyWater Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYT, or “SkyWater”), a U.S.-based Trusted technology realization partner, and D-Wave Quantum, Inc. (NYSE: QBTS, or “D-Wave”), a leader in quantum computing systems, software and services, today announced that D-Wave's Advantage2™ annealing quantum computer prototype, fabricated by SkyWater, was used to achieve computational supremacy in quantum simulation. The landmark research was published today by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in its journal, Science, one of the world’s most respected scientific journals, known for publishing high-impact research that advances global scientific and technological progress. The article details the work which demonstrates that D-Wave’s superconducting annealing quantum computing processors can efficiently solve problems beyond the practical reach of classical computers. This breakthrough also underscores the vital role of U.S.-based manufacturing in advancing global technology leadership.

The peer-reviewed paper, “Beyond-Classical Computation in Quantum Simulation,” confirms that D-Wave’s annealing quantum computer outperformed one of the world’s most powerful classical supercomputers in solving complex magnetic materials simulation problems with relevance to materials discovery. Understanding the quantum nature of magnetic materials is crucial to finding new ways to use them for technological advancement, making materials simulation and discovery a vital area of research for D-Wave and the broader scientific community. Magnetic materials are widely used in medical imaging, electronics, superconductors, electrical networks, sensors and motors.

Through the ongoing partnership with D-Wave, which began a decade ago at the Minnesota fab, SkyWater has provided highly specialized process integration, materials engineering and thin film fabrication expertise, enabling D-Wave’s concepts to be realized as manufacturable devices. SkyWater’s advanced development capabilities, including custom material deposition, specialized device patterning and large-scale fabrication integration, together with D-Wave’s superconducting materials and device expertise, have been integral in producing the qubits powering this major advancement.

Additionally, with SkyWater’s DOD Trusted Foundry status and D-Wave’s pioneering leadership in quantum computing, this partnership supports the rapidly growing commercialization of useful quantum computing solutions while reinforcing domestic leadership in advanced computing. U.S. semiconductor manufacturing strengthens national security, economic resilience and the country’s leadership in the global race to develop advanced quantum capabilities. Furthermore, the milestone announced today highlights SkyWater’s critical role in enabling innovators to conceive and scale next-generation advancements, underscoring the importance of expanding and safeguarding this crucial infrastructure to maintain U.S. leadership.

“We believe achieving quantum supremacy with qubits fabricated at SkyWater marks a pivotal moment for the entire quantum ecosystem,” said Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. “Our focus has always been on scalable, real-world quantum solutions, and our decade-long partnership has been instrumental in achieving this milestone. In our view, this collaboration showcases the strength of American innovation and demonstrates the critical role of domestic manufacturing for maintaining global technology leadership.”

“SkyWater is proud of our longstanding partnership with D-Wave and this unprecedented innovation in quantum computing,” said Thomas Sonderman, CEO of SkyWater. “This is an example of bleeding-edge technology taking place in a 200 mm fab – showcasing the importance of foundational node infrastructure here in the U.S. We believe that continued investment to modernize and expand domestic semiconductor manufacturing is essential to ensure that major breakthroughs like this one happen here – a national imperative for economic and security interests.”

For more information, please visit the companies’ websites: D-Wave and/or SkyWater.

About D-Wave Quantum Inc.

D-Wave is a leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software, and services. We are the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, and the only company building both annealing and gate-model quantum computers. Our mission is to help customers realize the value of quantum, today. Our 5,000+ qubit Advantage™ quantum computers, the world’s largest, are available on-premises or via the cloud, supported by 99.9% availability and uptime. More than 100 organizations trust D-Wave with their toughest computational challenges. With over 200 million problems submitted to our Advantage systems and Advantage2™ system prototypes to date, our customers apply our technology to address use cases spanning optimization, artificial intelligence, research and more. Learn more about realizing the value of quantum computing today and how we’re shaping the quantum-driven industrial and societal advancements of tomorrow: www.dwavequantum.com.

D-Wave Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and may not be indicative of future results. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, various factors beyond management’s control, including the risks set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or any updates discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part II of our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in our other filings with the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release in making an investment decision, which are based on information available to us on the date hereof. We undertake no duty to update this information unless required by law.

About SkyWater

SkyWater (NASDAQ: SKYT) is a U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer and a DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Supplier. SkyWater’s Technology as a Service model streamlines the path to production for customers with development services, high-volume production and heterogeneous integration solutions in its U.S. facilities. This pioneering model enables innovators to co-create the next wave of technology within diverse categories including mixed-signal CMOS, read-out ICs, rad-hard ICs, MEMS, superconducting ICs, photonics and advanced packaging. SkyWater serves the growing markets of aerospace & defense, automotive, biomedical, industrial and quantum computing. For more information, visit: www.skywatertechnology.com.

SkyWater Technology Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that are based on SkyWater’s current expectations or forecasts of future events, rather than past events and outcomes, and such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause SkyWater’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Key factors that could cause SkyWater’s actual results to be different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to, our goals and strategies; our future business development, financial condition and results of operations; our ability to complete our proposed acquisition of Fab 25 on the anticipated timeframe or at all and to realize the expected benefits of our proposed acquisition of Fab 25; our ability to continue operating our fabrication facilities at full capacity; our ability to appropriately respond to changing technologies on a timely and cost-effective basis; our customer relationships and our ability to retain and expand our customer relationships; our ability to accurately predict our future revenues for the purpose of appropriately budgeting and adjusting our expenses; our expectations regarding dependence on our largest customers; our ability to diversify our customer base and develop relationships in new markets; the performance and reliability of our third-party suppliers and manufacturers; our ability to procure tools, materials, and chemicals; our ability to control costs, including our operating and capital expenses; the size and growth potential of the markets for our solutions, and our ability to serve and expand our presence in those markets; the level of demand in our customers’ end markets; our ability to attract, train and retain key qualified personnel; adverse litigation judgments, settlements or other litigation-related costs; changes in trade policies, including the imposition of or increase in tariffs; our ability to raise additional capital or financing; our ability to accurately forecast demand; changes in local, regional, national and international economic or political conditions, including those resulting from increases in inflation and interest rates, a recession, or intensified international hostilities; the level and timing of U.S. government program funding; our ability to maintain compliance with certain U.S. government contracting requirements; regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and in other documents that SkyWater files with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. SkyWater assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

SKYT-CORP

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250311804035/en/

D-Wave Contact: Alex Daigle | media@dwavesys.com

SkyWater Media Contact: Lauri Julian | 949.280.5602 | lauri.julian@skywatertechnology.com

SkyWater Investor Contact: Claire McAdams | claire@headgatepartners.com

Source: SkyWater Technology

FAQ

What breakthrough did SkyWater Technology (SKYT) achieve with D-Wave in quantum computing?

SkyWater-fabricated qubits in D-Wave's Advantage2™ quantum computer achieved quantum supremacy by outperforming classical supercomputers in magnetic materials simulation.

How does the SKYT and D-Wave quantum computing breakthrough impact materials research?

The breakthrough enables more efficient simulation of magnetic materials, important for advancing medical imaging, electronics, superconductors, and other applications.

What is the significance of SKYT's manufacturing role in the quantum computing achievement?

As a DOD Trusted Foundry, SKYT's domestic manufacturing capabilities strengthen U.S. leadership in advanced computing and national security in quantum technology.

How long has the SKYT and D-Wave partnership been developing quantum computing technology?

The partnership has been ongoing for a decade at SkyWater's Minnesota fabrication facility.