Carbon nanotube qubits with Pierre Desjardins

Carbon nanotube qubits with Pierre Desjardins

🎙 Sebastian Hassinger 👥 314 📅 September 27, 2025 ⏱ 26 min 👁 101 📄 interview 🧭 2026-08-16
Available in: English (current) Français

Keywords

carbon nanotubespin qubitquantum busmicrowave photonscharge noise

Summary

In this episode of The New Quantum Era, host Sebastian Hassinger interviews Pierre Desjardins, co-founder and CEO of C12, a Paris-based startup developing quantum computers based on carbon nanotube spin qubits. Pierre shares his unconventional path into quantum hardware, having no PhD but a master’s in physics and a consulting background. He explains C12’s unique approach: fabricating single-wall carbon nanotubes from isotopically pure carbon-12, testing them for impurities, and then integrating them onto silicon chips as a final step, resulting in suspended nanotubes that provide an exceptionally clean environment for electron confinement. The core innovation is the use of a superconducting ‘quantum bus’ to couple distant qubits via microwave photons, inspired by superconducting qubit architectures. This enables long-range connectivity, addressing the scaling bottleneck of nearest-neighbor architectures. C12 has achieved ultra-low charge noise and long coherence times, publishing results in Nature. The next milestone is demonstrating two-qubit gates mediated by microwave photons. Pierre discusses the rapid evolution of error-correcting codes and the competitive landscape, hoping to beat IBM in demonstrating long-distance gates. The episode highlights the importance of materials science and the potential of carbon nanotubes for scalable quantum computing.

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Critical Evaluation

Value of the Information & Strength of the Argument

The interview provides valuable insights into a specific quantum hardware approach, detailing the technical rationale behind using carbon nanotubes and the quantum bus architecture. Pierre’s arguments are coherent and grounded in physics, explaining how the suspended architecture reduces charge noise and how the quantum bus enables scalability. The discussion of spin-photon coupling and tunable qubit-bus coupling is technically sound. However, the claims are not independently verified, and the promotional nature of the interview limits critical evaluation. The host does not probe potential weaknesses or alternative viewpoints, so the argumentation is one-sided.

Scientific Rigor, Source Quality, Title Accuracy

The episode does not cite specific sources within the interview, but the description mentions a publication in Nature. The title accurately reflects the content. The host’s introduction provides context about the company and its technology. The scientific rigor is moderate: the technical explanations are plausible, but there is no external validation or discussion of challenges beyond the company’s own perspective. The lack of critical questioning and the absence of citations reduce the overall scientific rigor.

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Title / Content Match

The title accurately reflects the content, which focuses on carbon nanotube qubits and the guest's work at C12.

Quality & Reliability

7/10

The interview features a founder of a quantum hardware startup discussing technical details of their platform. The information is plausible and aligns with known quantum computing concepts, but it is promotional and lacks independent verification. The host does not challenge claims, and no external sources are cited within the episode.

Key Moments

Cited Sources

  • C12's Nature publication (mentioned in description) — The description mentions that C12 published results in Nature, but no specific URL is provided.

Concurring Sources

  • C12 Quantum Technologies website — The company's official website provides information about their technology and milestones.

Contribution & Novelties

The episode provides an in-depth look at a relatively novel approach to spin qubits using carbon nanotubes, highlighting the potential of the quantum bus architecture for scalability. It offers insights into the entrepreneurial journey of a quantum hardware startup and the technical challenges of materials science. The discussion of spin-photon coupling and tunable qubit-bus coupling is particularly informative.

Pour aller plus loin :

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Radar Profile

The radar profile shows a balanced performance across all dimensions, with slightly higher scores in technical level and information quantity, reflecting the in-depth technical discussion. The lower scores in information quality and reliability are due to the promotional nature and lack of independent verification.

Reliability 6/10

💬 No comments were provided for analysis.