Tom Darras is all smiles. At the end of January, this young 28-year-old doctor has just received his Kbis, the document proving the existence of his young company, WeLinQ, the latest of around thirty French start-ups in an emerging sector, often recognizable by the letter Q. in their name. A “Q” which stands for quantum and would rhyme with technological revolution.
The adjective refers to the theory born in the interwar period that best describes the behavior of matter at the level of atoms. Thanks to it, physicists now know why the sky is blue, why a star shines, or why a firefly fluoresces. Above all, engineers have used this theory to shape semiconductor materials, the basis of chips and memories of computers and mobiles. Quantum theory is also at the origin of the laser that reads CDs or guides unmanned cars. Light-emitting diodes are also quantum. Just like the high-precision clocks that beat the tempo in geolocation satellites.
“Telling yourself that what we dreamed of twenty years ago is going to come true is very exciting” Julien Laurat, co-founder of WeLinQ
But a second wave is spreading, taking advantage of other properties of the theory that are still little exploited and highlighted only from the 1980s in research laboratories. It promises more secure communications because they are sensitive to the slightest interception. But also faster or impossible calculations even on supercomputers. Or even more precise and smaller light, magnetic field, gravitation, wave sensors, opening the way to guidance without geolocation satellites or to MRI sessions in less bulky devices.
Synchronized small subunits
Calculation, cybersecurity and metrology (the science of sensors) are the three pillars of the announced revolution. To which must be added the so-called “enabling” technologies, i.e. necessary to make the others work: lasers, very low temperature refrigerators (or cryostats) at – 270°C, vacuum pumps, etc.
The famous quantum computer, Grail of the field, is therefore not the only application targeted in a global market estimated by the company Yole Développement at nearly 3 billion dollars (more than 2.6 billion euros) in 2030.
In France, around thirty SMEs and start-ups are therefore betting on this quantum future. “Telling yourself that what you dreamed of twenty years ago will become reality is very exciting”, testifies Julien Laurat, co-founder of WeLinQ, professor at Sorbonne University and former thesis director of Tom Darras, the CEO of the start-up. Their dream to materialize is a quantum memory, making it possible to preserve precious information for a few fifteen microseconds.
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