Enabling technologies and supply chain

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The lasers, fridges, electronics and chips every quantum device needs.

What it is

Every quantum computer, network or sensor is built from parts that are not quantum devices themselves: lasers and optics, cooling systems, control and readout electronics, special materials and the factories that make quantum chips. Together they are called enabling technologies.

The supply chain is the set of companies and laboratories that make these parts, from raw materials such as isotopically pure silicon or helium-3 to finished subsystems that are sold to the makers of quantum machines.

How it works

Superconducting and spin qubits work only a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, so they sit inside dilution refrigerators. Trapped ions and neutral atoms are held and controlled with stable lasers in ultra-high vacuum. Photonic devices need single-photon sources and detectors.

Each qubit also needs microwave or optical control signals and a way to read it out, which today means racks of electronics and many cables. Quantum chips are made in clean rooms and, increasingly, on pilot lines that turn laboratory processes into repeatable manufacturing.

Try it: open up a quantum computer

Choose a part to see what it does. Each one comes from a different part of the supply chain.

Choose a part.

Why it matters

The performance of a quantum machine is often limited by its enabling parts: the noise of the electronics, the stability of the lasers or the quality of the materials. Scaling up from tens to thousands of qubits needs better and cheaper versions of all of them.

Some parts come from only a few suppliers worldwide, and some, such as helium-3, are scarce. Knowing who makes them, and where, matters for security of supply and for Europe's strategic autonomy.

Europe’s position

Europe has strong suppliers of lasers, photonics, cryogenics and control electronics, and research organisations that run clean rooms for quantum devices. The Chips Joint Undertaking funds pilot lines for quantum chips, and the Quantum Europe Strategy of July 2025 names the supply chain as an area to strengthen.

The portal's supply chain pages list the European organisations that EU-funded projects and open sources link to each part; the list shows participation and evidence, not a certified capability.

262 EU-funded projects in enabling technologies and supply chain, with an EU contribution of EUR 356 million (CORDIS; the pillar is suggested automatically and pending review).

On this site

Recent EU-funded projects in enabling technologies and supply chain

Pages of this portal

Glossary

Dilution refrigerator: A cooling system that reaches a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, used for superconducting and spin qubits.
Control electronics: The instruments that send the microwave or optical pulses that operate qubits and read out their state.
Quantum foundry: A manufacturing facility, or a service, that makes quantum chips for other organisations.
Helium-3: A rare form of helium used in dilution refrigerators; its supply is limited.
Supply chain: The chain of suppliers that turns raw materials and parts into a finished product.