The foundry problem quantum can't ignore — inside the partnerships reshaping the stack

The quantum computing industry has a story it likes to tell about itself. It is a story about qubits, about error rates, about the race to fault tolerance. Told almost entirely in the language of physics, it is a compelling story. However, it is increasingly incomplete.

The barrier that will determine which quantum technologies survive the next decade is not a physics problem. Instead, it is a manufacturing problem. More precisely, it is a foundry problem: can the global semiconductor fabrication ecosystem produce quantum devices with the consistency, yield, and repeatability required to scale beyond the laboratory?

Classical chip fabs took decades and hundreds of billions of dollars to reach the yield levels that made them commercially viable. Quantum is attempting to compress that timeline dramatically. Moreover, it cannot do it alone.

At the Quantum Computing Infra Summit 2026 in Silicon Valley, the leaders working on this challenge will convene for a focused panel: Foundry Partnerships Driving a Scalable Quantum Future. This is that conversation, started early.

For most of quantum computing's history, fabrication was a secondary concern. Researchers needed to demonstrate that quantum systems could work at all. Yield, reproducibility, and cost-per-device were questions for another day.

That day has arrived.

The field has moved from demonstrating quantum advantage in controlled experiments to building systems that must operate reliably and repeatedly. This transition exposes a critical gap. Most quantum devices today are still produced in small volumes, under conditions that a semiconductor process engineer would find unrecognisable.

Consequently, scaling requires something the quantum industry largely does not yet have: access to proven fabrication infrastructure capable of producing quantum-grade devices with semiconductor-level consistency.

That is where foundry partnerships become essential. Furthermore, it is why the organisations building those partnerships are now among the most strategically important actors in the entire quantum ecosystem.

Quantum devices impose fabrication requirements that push against the limits of even the most advanced semiconductor fabs.

Superconducting qubits, for example, require materials deposited with extraordinary purity and uniformity. Surface defects that would be negligible in a classical transistor can destroy qubit coherence entirely. Similarly, silicon-based quantum devices demand atomic-scale control of doping profiles and interface quality.

For foundries, this is not simply a matter of running existing processes more carefully. New process development, new materials qualifications, and new metrology capabilities are all required. Additionally, foundries must manage the economics of production volumes that, for now, remain a fraction of classical chip demand.

Several institutions and companies navigating this challenge will be represented at the Quantum Computing Infra Summit 2026.

Dr. Papa Rao, Senior Director of Emerging Technologies at NY Creates, oversees one of the most important publicly-supported semiconductor research and fabrication environments in the US. His work bridges the gap between research-scale quantum device development and the infrastructure needed to move toward volume production.

Tom Sonderman, Chief Executive Officer of SkyWater Technology, leads one of the few US-based pure-play foundries. SkyWater has specifically positioned itself around advanced and emerging technology programmes, including quantum device fabrication. As a result, Sonderman brings direct perspective on what domestic manufacturing readiness actually requires.

Gregg Bartlett, Chief Technology Officer of GlobalFoundries, represents a major global foundry player. GlobalFoundries has invested in differentiating its process portfolio around specialised technologies. Bartlett will address how a foundry at that scale evaluates the infrastructure investment required to serve quantum customers at meaningful volumes.

For quantum device companies, selecting a foundry partner is not simply a supply chain decision. It is a technology strategy decision. The fabrication partner shapes which architectures are viable, which improvements are achievable, and how quickly a company can iterate toward production-ready devices.

John Levy, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of SEEQC, has built his company's strategy around this reality. SEEQC develops a digital quantum computing platform that combines classical and quantum technologies on a single chip-scale architecture. Crucially, this approach depends on co-developing fabrication processes with foundry partners capable of handling both elements simultaneously.

The integration challenge SEEQC faces is representative of a broader industry problem. Quantum systems are not standalone devices. Rather, they are hybrid systems in which quantum processors, classical control electronics, and complex interconnect architectures must all be fabricated, assembled, and packaged together. This multiplies the demands placed on any foundry partner significantly.

Dr. Kristiaan De Greve, Fellow and Program Director of Quantum at imec, occupies a unique position in this landscape. imec operates as a global research hub, partnering with both quantum companies and major semiconductor manufacturers to accelerate the transition from laboratory-scale fabrication to volume-compatible processes. Therefore, De Greve's work sits at the precise intersection where quantum physics meets industrial manufacturing readiness.

The aerospace and defence industry uses a framework called Technology Readiness Level, or TRL, to assess how far a technology has progressed from basic research toward deployment. The quantum computing industry has borrowed similar frameworks. However, a complementary concept is becoming equally important: Manufacturing Readiness Level.

Manufacturing readiness asks a different set of questions. Can a quantum device be reproduced consistently? Can a fabrication process transfer from one lab to a foundry environment with acceptable yield? Can a quantum system be built reliably enough to ship to a customer?

Currently, most quantum technologies score at early manufacturing readiness stages. The physics is often ahead of the manufacturing. Bridging that gap is the defining challenge for the next phase of the industry.

The companies and institutions appearing in this panel are directly working on that bridge. Their choices about process development, foundry partnerships, and fabrication infrastructure will determine which quantum platforms are able to scale — and which remain confined to the laboratory.

The foundry challenge does not exist in isolation. It connects directly to questions of supply chain resilience, domestic manufacturing capability, and long-term competitiveness in a technology that governments worldwide have identified as strategically critical.

The United States, the European Union, and several Asia-Pacific governments have each made significant public investments in quantum technology development. Nevertheless, a meaningful share of the strategic value of those investments depends on whether the underlying manufacturing infrastructure can support commercial quantum production at scale.

For quantum companies, the implication is clear: technical differentiation alone is not enough. The ability to access and co-develop robust fabrication processes with capable foundry partners is becoming a competitive differentiator in its own right.

For foundries, quantum represents both an opportunity and an investment decision. The volumes are not yet there to justify commitment on classical semiconductor terms. However, the companies that develop quantum fabrication expertise now are building a position in a market the industry broadly expects to grow substantially over the next decade.