IonQ Breakthrough in Synthetic Diamond Materials Accelerates Quantum Networking Scale and Production
September 8, 2025 | IonQEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
IonQ, the leader in the quantum computing and networking industries, announced a significant breakthrough in creating essential hardware for building large-scale quantum networks and clustered compute. In collaboration with Element Six, a De Beers Group company specializing in synthetic diamond materials for industrial applications, the team has developed high-quality, quantum-grade diamond films. These films allow diamond-based devices to be made using standard semiconductor manufacturing techniques.
This advancement is crucial because synthetic diamonds are a key component for building quantum memory systems and the photonic interconnects that link individual quantum computing systems together. By making synthetic diamonds compatible with standard chipmaking processes, IonQ is accelerating the production of scalable quantum systems and moving toward manufacturing quantum networks and quantum compute devices at an industrial level.
"Foundry-compatible, quantum-grade diamond films change the game in photonic interconnects, compute processors, and quantum networking," said Niccolo de Masi, Chairman and CEO of IonQ. “This innovation will allow us to mass-produce consistent, high-performance systems designed for commercial quantum networks.”
The addition of this new capability makes IonQ’s quantum technology stack, including quantum interconnects and repeaters, foundry-compatible. Moreover, the ability to industrialize thin film quantum-grade diamonds opens new possibilities not just for IonQ’s computing and networking roadmap, but also for adjacent fields such as quantum sensing.
“Synthetic diamond is one of the most promising platform materials for quantum technologies, with use-cases across the entire ecosystem, especially in sensing and networking,” said Siobhán Duffy, CEO at Element Six. “These synthetic diamond thin films will enable at-scale fabrication of high performance devices."
The stringent material requirements for producing micro- and nano-structured devices previously limited fabrication to bespoke, R&D-scale techniques not viable for reliable, at-scale production. IonQ’s new approach, enabled by Element Six’s world-leading materials, overcomes this barrier by allowing the bonding of quantum-grade diamond films onto common substrates like silicon and silicon nitride. This unlocks two essential capabilities:
Foundry Compatibility: For the first time, synthetic diamond quantum devices can be produced using the same tools and processes that power the $1 trillion semiconductor industry. This supports scalable production of diamond-based devices like quantum memories, sensors, and other microelectromechanical systems.
Heterogeneous Integration: Synthetic diamond can now be incorporated into hybrid, on-chip systems that combine the best of quantum and classical materials, for example integrating diamond-based quantum memories alongside non-diamond-based devices, such as switches, modulators, and electronic control layers.
Today’s announcement builds on the recent completion of IonQ’s Lightsynq acquisition, and on IonQ’s continued progress along its photonic interconnect roadmap. Integration of Lightsynq’s photonic interconnect, quantum memory technologies, and its IP portfolio will accelerate IonQ’s roadmap toward scalable, fault-tolerant quantum systems.
Testimonial
"Advertising in PCB007 Magazine has been a great way to showcase our bare board testers to the right audience. The I-Connect007 team makes the process smooth and professional. We’re proud to be featured in such a trusted publication."
Klaus Koziol - atgSuggested Items
Rigetti, in Collaboration with QphoX, Awarded $5.8M AFRL Contract to Advance Superconducting Quantum Networking
09/29/2025 | RigettiRigetti Computing, Inc., a pioneer in hybrid quantum-classical computing, announced that it was awarded a three-year, $5.8 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to advance superconducting quantum networking.
Anyon Systems Becomes Anchor Partner in Industrial Quantum Chip Fabrication Facility
09/18/2025 | PRNewswireAnyon Systems Inc., a quantum computing company based in Montreal, Canada and the MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre (C2MI) are pleased to announce they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) confirming their collaboration in developing the value offering of C2MI's industrial grade new quantum fabrication facility located in Bromont, Québec.
PsiQuantum Raises $1 Billion to Build Million-Qubit Scale, Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers
09/10/2025 | BUSINESS WIREPsiQuantum announced it has raised $1 billion in funding for its Series E round to build the world’s first commercially useful, fault-tolerant quantum computers.
DARPA, State of New Mexico Establish Framework to Advance Quantum Computing
09/08/2025 | DARPAAs part of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), DARPA signed an agreement with the State of New Mexico’s Economic Development Department to create the Quantum Frontier Project.
IBM, AMD Join Forces to Build the Future of Computing
09/02/2025 | AMDIBM and AMD announced plans to develop next-generation computing architectures based on the combination of quantum computers and high-performance computing, known as quantum-centric supercomputing.