Xanadu and HyperLight cut optical switch insertion loss to 7 mdB, advancing photonic quantum scaling

【Article Title】 Xanadu and HyperLight cut optical switch insertion loss to 7 mdB, advancing photonic quantum scaling 【Article Body】 AI TRANSLATION This article is an AI-generated translation of the original Japanese article. For the authoritative version, please refer to the original. Read the original Japanese article → (https://quantumindex.jp/xanadu-hyperlight-optical-switch-loss-7mdb/) Xanadu Quantum Technologies and HyperLight announced they have reduced the insertion loss of optical switches using thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) technology to 7 millidecibels (mdB). This is about a threefold improvement from the 20 mdB achieved in 2025, aiming to suppress photon loss as photonic quantum computers scale up. ✍️ Quantum Index Analysis We explain the technical and commercial implications behind the announcement and evaluation points that numbers and headlines alone may not reveal. Read our independent analysis ↓ Overview An optical switch is a component that controls the path of photons carrying quantum information. Because it is difficult to amplify quantum signals by conventional means without disturbing their quantum statequantum stateQuantum State / Quantum StateRepresents the state of a quantum system and determines quantities such as the probabilities of outcomes obtained when the system is measured.QI NoteA quantum state is not the simple "0 or 1" value of a qubit. It includes superpositions and mixed states, and how the state was prepared and measured is also important., loss incurred when passing through switches strongly affects the scale and efficiency of photonic quantum systems. This demonstration used HyperLight’s TFLN platform, the “TFLN Chiplet,” and a wafer manufacturing line compatible with volume production. Both companies report good yield and reproducibility. Xanadu claims the loss is ten times lower than recently published values from competitors, but the announcement does not provide comparison conditions or third-party evaluation. Xanadu says the loss reduction could reduce qubitqubitQubit / Quantum Bit / QubitThe basic unit of information in a quantum computer. It can represent not only 0 or 1 but also a quantum state that is a superposition of them.QI NoteHaving more qubits does not necessarily mean higher performance. Error rates, connectivity, coherence time, and the number of logical qubits are also important. loss, required laser power, and hardware redundancy. However, the ability to maintain this performance in mass production, effects on overall system efficiency and error tolerance, and impacts on manufacturing cost remain unconfirmed at this stage. Key points • Insertion loss of the optical switch was reduced from 20 mdB (2025) to 7 mdB. • The demonstration used HyperLight’s thin-film lithium niobate platform and a wafer manufacturing line suitable for volume production. • Reducing photon loss is relevant to preserving quantum states and scaling photonic circuits. • Yield in mass production, overall system performance, and cost-reduction effects are not yet confirmed. Technical and commercial significance In photonic quantum computers that use many optical switches, small losses per component accumulate across the system. Reducing insertion loss from 20 mdB to 7 mdB could lower the technical burden of maintaining quantum signals in large-scale optical circuits. Demonstrating this on a volume-production line provides a data point for scaling manufacturing, but transition to commercial-scale production, reductions in manufacturing cost and footprint, and deployments in data-center contexts remain future prospects. What to watch next The key question going forward is whether the 7 mdB loss and acceptable yield and reproducibility can be maintained at larger production volumes. Important evaluation points include the effect on system efficiency and error tolerance when integrated into full photonic quantum systems, and how much laser power and hardware can be reduced. Progress on commercial-scale production and concrete adoption in quantum computing or data-center applications will also be important to watch. ✍️ Quantum Index Analysis This result can be viewed as an important technical advance against the fundamental challenge of photon loss that impedes scaling of photonic quantum computers. A reduction to 7 mdB may seem small on its own, but its effect accumulates in large systems that route photons through many switches. For example, assuming photons pass through 100 switches and ignoring all other losses, the photon survival probability would be as follows. Insertion loss per switchPhoton survival probability after 100 switchesMax passes to maintain 90% survival20 mdB (2025)63.1%22 passes7 mdB (this result)85.1%65 passes ※ Theoretical values assuming each switch has the same loss and transmission = (10^{-L/10}) (L is insertion loss in dB). Other losses are not included. In other words, under the same requirement for photon survival probability, the number of switches that can be traversed increases by roughly threefold. Because photon loss in photonic quantum computers affects computation success probability and resources needed for error correction, this improvement could substantially increase design freedom for circuits. This is not merely a component improvement but a result that bears on the feasibility of large-scale quantum computing systems. It is also significant that this result was achieved on a wafer manufacturing line suitable for volume production. The 20 mdB result from 2025 was also demonstrated in a production-capable facility, and this work represents further loss reduction on a comparable manufacturing basis. Xanadu has also been developing a manufacturing base with GlobalFoundries for photonic quantum chips, and is collaborating with multiple specialist companies to industrialize quantum hardware. Related article: Xanadu and GlobalFoundries move toward PIC volume production for photonic quantum—industrializing SiN and SNSPD on 300mm lines (https://en.quantumindex.jp/xanadu-globalfoundries-300mm-photonic-quantum-manufacturing/) However, the reported figures are for the optical switch alone; improvements in switches do not automatically imply proportional improvements across sources, waveguides, interfaces, and detectors in a complete system. Switching speed, extinction ratio, and actual performance when implemented in quantum circuits are also important. Xanadu’s claim of a tenfold advantage over competitors should be treated cautiously, as comparison conditions are not specified. Going forward, the evaluation will focus on whether the 7 mdB loss can be maintained in large-scale manufacturing and deployment, and how much it can reduce photon loss and error-correction overheads in real photonic quantum computers. NETWORKView Xanadu’s industry network → (/qi-network/) Related articles • The key to mass-producing quantum computers is the component supply chain—Infleqtion prototypes an integrated optical cavity (https://en.quantumindex.jp/infleqtion-integrated-optical-cavity-prototype/) • Xanadu and GlobalFoundries move toward PIC volume production for photonic quantum—industrializing SiN and SNSPD on 300mm lines (https://en.quantumindex.jp/xanadu-globalfoundries-300mm-photonic-quantum-manufacturing/) • PsiQuantum secures up to $150M loan facility from US DoD—strengthening manufacturing base after DARPA Stage C (https://en.quantumindex.jp/psiquantum-150m-conditional-loan-osc/) Source Read the original announcement (https://investors.xanadu.ai/news-releases/news-release-details/xanadu-and-hyperlight-achieve-breakthrough-nearly-3x-reduction) If you found this article useful, please consider sharing it. ──────────────────── 【AI Evaluation Request】 Evaluate the following article critically, not based on the quality of its writing, but on its **original informational value as a specialist publication**. Do not give a high rating to summaries, paraphrases, explanations of technical terms, or generic observations such as "this will be worth watching" or "the timeline remains uncertain" if they could easily be produced by a general-purpose generative AI, even if they are well written. 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Xanadu Quantum Technologies and HyperLight announced they have reduced the insertion loss of optical switches using thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) technology to 7 millidecibels (mdB). This is about a threefold improvement from the 20 mdB achieved in 2025, aiming to suppress photon loss as photonic quantum computers scale up.

Overview

An optical switch is a component that controls the path of photons carrying quantum information. Because it is difficult to amplify quantum signals by conventional means without disturbing their quantum statequantum stateQuantum State / Quantum StateRepresents the state of a quantum system and determines quantities such as the probabilities of outcomes obtained when the system is measured.QI NoteA quantum state is not the simple "0 or 1" value of a qubit. It includes superpositions and mixed states, and how the state was prepared and measured is also important., loss incurred when passing through switches strongly affects the scale and efficiency of photonic quantum systems. This demonstration used HyperLight’s TFLN platform, the “TFLN Chiplet,” and a wafer manufacturing line compatible with volume production. Both companies report good yield and reproducibility. Xanadu claims the loss is ten times lower than recently published values from competitors, but the announcement does not provide comparison conditions or third-party evaluation.

Xanadu says the loss reduction could reduce qubitqubitQubit / Quantum Bit / QubitThe basic unit of information in a quantum computer. It can represent not only 0 or 1 but also a quantum state that is a superposition of them.QI NoteHaving more qubits does not necessarily mean higher performance. Error rates, connectivity, coherence time, and the number of logical qubits are also important. loss, required laser power, and hardware redundancy. However, the ability to maintain this performance in mass production, effects on overall system efficiency and error tolerance, and impacts on manufacturing cost remain unconfirmed at this stage.

Key points

• Insertion loss of the optical switch was reduced from 20 mdB (2025) to 7 mdB.
• The demonstration used HyperLight’s thin-film lithium niobate platform and a wafer manufacturing line suitable for volume production.
• Reducing photon loss is relevant to preserving quantum states and scaling photonic circuits.
• Yield in mass production, overall system performance, and cost-reduction effects are not yet confirmed.

Technical and commercial significance

In photonic quantum computers that use many optical switches, small losses per component accumulate across the system. Reducing insertion loss from 20 mdB to 7 mdB could lower the technical burden of maintaining quantum signals in large-scale optical circuits. Demonstrating this on a volume-production line provides a data point for scaling manufacturing, but transition to commercial-scale production, reductions in manufacturing cost and footprint, and deployments in data-center contexts remain future prospects.

What to watch next

The key question going forward is whether the 7 mdB loss and acceptable yield and reproducibility can be maintained at larger production volumes. Important evaluation points include the effect on system efficiency and error tolerance when integrated into full photonic quantum systems, and how much laser power and hardware can be reduced. Progress on commercial-scale production and concrete adoption in quantum computing or data-center applications will also be important to watch.

✍️ Quantum Index Analysis

This result can be viewed as an important technical advance against the fundamental challenge of photon loss that impedes scaling of photonic quantum computers. A reduction to 7 mdB may seem small on its own, but its effect accumulates in large systems that route photons through many switches.

For example, assuming photons pass through 100 switches and ignoring all other losses, the photon survival probability would be as follows.

Insertion loss per switch	Photon survival probability after 100 switches	Max passes to maintain 90% survival
20 mdB (2025)	63.1%	22 passes
7 mdB (this result)	85.1%	65 passes

※ Theoretical values assuming each switch has the same loss and transmission = (10^{-L/10}) (L is insertion loss in dB). Other losses are not included.

In other words, under the same requirement for photon survival probability, the number of switches that can be traversed increases by roughly threefold. Because photon loss in photonic quantum computers affects computation success probability and resources needed for error correction, this improvement could substantially increase design freedom for circuits. This is not merely a component improvement but a result that bears on the feasibility of large-scale quantum computing systems.

It is also significant that this result was achieved on a wafer manufacturing line suitable for volume production. The 20 mdB result from 2025 was also demonstrated in a production-capable facility, and this work represents further loss reduction on a comparable manufacturing basis. Xanadu has also been developing a manufacturing base with GlobalFoundries for photonic quantum chips, and is collaborating with multiple specialist companies to industrialize quantum hardware.

Related article: Xanadu and GlobalFoundries move toward PIC volume production for photonic quantum—industrializing SiN and SNSPD on 300mm lines

However, the reported figures are for the optical switch alone; improvements in switches do not automatically imply proportional improvements across sources, waveguides, interfaces, and detectors in a complete system. Switching speed, extinction ratio, and actual performance when implemented in quantum circuits are also important. Xanadu’s claim of a tenfold advantage over competitors should be treated cautiously, as comparison conditions are not specified.

Going forward, the evaluation will focus on whether the 7 mdB loss can be maintained in large-scale manufacturing and deployment, and how much it can reduce photon loss and error-correction overheads in real photonic quantum computers.

NETWORKView Xanadu’s industry network →

Related articles

• The key to mass-producing quantum computers is the component supply chain—Infleqtion prototypes an integrated optical cavity
• Xanadu and GlobalFoundries move toward PIC volume production for photonic quantum—industrializing SiN and SNSPD on 300mm lines
• PsiQuantum secures up to $150M loan facility from US DoD—strengthening manufacturing base after DARPA Stage C

Source

Read the original announcement