IonQ & Element Six Create Foundry‑Compatible Diamond Films Quantum Network

Niccolo de Masi from IonQ announced on 4 September 2025 that the company, in partnership with Element Six of the De Beers Group, has produced quantum‑grade synthetic diamond films that are fully compatible with standard semiconductor foundries, enabling the bonding of diamond onto silicon and silicon nitride substrates. The breakthrough, achieved by leveraging Element Six’s world‑leading synthetic diamond materials, allows scalable fabrication of quantum memories and photonic interconnects—key components for IonQ’s roadmap to 2 million qubits by 2030 and the mass‑production of fault‑tolerant quantum systems. By integrating diamond-based devices with conventional electronics, the new films open the door to heterogeneous on-chip architectures that could accelerate the deployment of quantum networks at an industrial scale. Meanwhile, IonQ’s current systems have already delivered 20× performance gains for partners such as Amazon Web Services, underscoring the commercial potential of the technology.

IonQ and Element Six Forge Foundry Compatible Quantum Grade Diamond Films

IonQ and Element Six announced on 4 September 2025 in College Park, Maryland, that they have produced high‑quality quantum‑grade diamond films that can be integrated into standard semiconductor foundries. The partnership combines IonQ’s expertise in quantum computing and networking with Element Six’s long-standing leadership in synthetic diamond materials. Niccolò de Masi, Chairman and CEO of IonQ, and Siobhán Duffy, CEO of Element Six, jointly highlighted the breakthrough as a pivotal step toward scalable, fault-tolerant quantum systems.

The new films are thin layers of synthetic diamond that meet the stringent purity and defect‑free requirements of quantum devices. By developing a process that bonds these diamond layers onto conventional substrates such as silicon and silicon nitride, the team has made it possible to fabricate diamond‑based quantum memories, photonic interconnects and sensors using the same lithographic and deposition tools that underpin the $1 trillion semiconductor industry. The method preserves the optical and spin-coherence properties of the diamond while allowing devices to be produced in a high-volume, cost-effective environment.

This foundry compatibility unlocks two key capabilities for IonQ’s technology stack. First, it enables the mass production of quantum-grade diamond devices, a prerequisite for building large-scale quantum networks and clustered computing nodes. Second, it permits heterogeneous integration, allowing diamond quantum memories to coexist on a single chip with classical components such as switches, modulators and electronic control layers. The announcement follows IonQ’s recent acquisition of Lightsynq and the company’s continued progress along its photonic interconnect roadmap, positioning IonQ to accelerate its goal of delivering two million‑qubit machines by 2030.

Beyond computing, the industrialisation of thin-film quantum-grade diamonds opens opportunities in adjacent fields, such as quantum sensing, where the exceptional thermal conductivity and optical transparency of diamond can be harnessed at scale. Element Six’s global manufacturing footprint—spanning the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and South Africa—provides the supply chain infrastructure needed to support the widespread adoption of these films across multiple high-technology sectors.

Accelerating Scalable Quantum Networks Through Standard Semiconductor Processes

IonQ and Element Six announced on 4 September 2025 in College Park, Maryland that they have produced quantum‑grade diamond films that can be fabricated using the same lithographic and deposition tools that underpin the global semiconductor industry. The announcement, led by Niccolo de Masi, Chairman and CEO of IonQ, and Siobhn Duffy, CEO of Element Six, signals a decisive advance in the production of diamond‑based quantum hardware.

The new films are bonded directly onto conventional substrates, such as silicon and silicon nitride, a technique that sidesteps the bespoke, research-grade processes that previously limited diamond device fabrication to small-scale laboratories. By leveraging standard semiconductor equipment, the approach enables high-volume, cost-effective manufacturing while preserving the optical and spin-coherence properties that make diamond a prime candidate for quantum memory and photonic interconnects.

With this capability, IonQ’s quantum interconnects and repeaters become fully foundry‑compatible, aligning the company’s hardware stack with the photonic interconnect roadmap that was accelerated by the recent acquisition of Lightsynq. The integration of Lightsynq’s photonic interconnects, IonQ’s quantum memory technologies, and the associated intellectual‑property portfolio is expected to shorten the path to scalable, fault‑tolerant quantum systems.

The industrialisation of thin‑film quantum‑grade diamonds opens the door to large‑scale deployment of quantum memories, sensors, and other micro‑electromechanical systems that can be co‑fabricated with classical electronics on a single chip. This heterogeneous integration is essential for building the quantum internet, as it allows quantum devices to be embedded within existing data‑centre architectures without the need for specialised fabrication lines.

IonQ’s long‑term objective is to deliver a 2 million‑qubit machine by 2030, and the ability to mass‑produce quantum‑grade diamond films positions the company as a leader in the emerging quantum‑internet market. By aligning quantum hardware production with the $1 trillion semiconductor ecosystem, IonQ is poised to transition from laboratory prototypes to commercially viable, large-scale quantum networks.