An Australian startup is looking beyond room-sized supercomputers and says it is developing useful quantum technology that can fit in a backpack.
Spun out of the Australian National University, startup Quantum Brilliance is being accepted into Germany's future "Diamond Valley" of greener, miniaturised quantum computing.
"The development of quantum computing mainframes by major tech giants is well-known but what has been overlooked is the future of miniaturised quantum computers," co-founder and chief operating officer Mark Luo told AAP.
Some focus on the freakish physics of "qubits" - electrons, photons or other small particles - but it could be more useful to think about how the technology can do many things all at once.
Quantum computing can process vast amounts of data very quickly to come up with answers.
But it is yet to enter everyday use because the enormous mainframes of the past decade need vast amounts of energy to keep cool, and a lot of capital.
Quantum Brilliance's technology is based on synthetic diamonds which it says can be miniaturised and operate in real-world environments.
The diamond-based technology could become the brains of driverless cars, help to find the best drug for a disease, or sit on a satellite and send back real-time images instead of raw data.
"These diamond-based quantum accelerators can operate at room temperature, have tens of qubits rather than millions, and be the size of lunch boxes rather than take up an entire room," Mr Luo said.
The startup has opened an office in Germany in a region that is home to engineering, automotive and technology giants such as Daimler, Porsche, and Bosch.
"Start-ups like Quantum Brilliance are real disruptors," Baden-Wurttemberg President Winfried Kretschmann said.
Mr Kretschmann and the startup's head in Europe, Mark Mattingley-Scott, have discussed what is needed for quantum microprocessor production, a diamond supply chain, and a "Diamond Valley" of diamond-based quantum computing in Baden-Wurttemberg.
Germany is also keen on the technology's potential to help decarbonise Europe's biggest economy.
The technology could be useful for energy storage, nanotechnology and chemical making.
Quantum Brilliance recently sealed a $22.5 million joint research deal with Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics and the University of Ulm.
Collaboration also continues in Australia, including at the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre.
Australian Associated Press
