The Second Quantum Revolution

Quantum technology is moving from fundamental research to practical industrial systems, while academia has become part of the infrastructure itself, aiming to take a leading position at the forefront of this critical field. Will the promise be fulfilled?

In recent years, quantum computing has been perceived as one of the great promises of the technology world. But the headlines about massive investments and new startups hide a more complex picture.

The field, which grew out of fundamental physics research, is now at a transition point – no longer purely theoretical science, but not yet a mature technology either. Three leading researchers, each working with a different approach, offer an inside view of the tension between promise and proof, between lab and product, and between academic knowledge and national strategy.

Professor Nir Davidson from the Quantum Physics Laboratory at the Weizmann Institute of Science has spent nearly 30 years working with cold neutral atoms – atoms cooled to nearly absolute-zero (microkelvin) temperatures and trapped using lasers, thereby enabling highly precise control.

“For years we studied quantum physics without thinking it would become a technology”, he says, referring to the period when the field was considered purely fundamental research. That has changed in recent years, with atoms becoming one of the leading platforms for building quantum computers. “In hindsight, focusing on cold atoms was a very good decision”, says Prof. Davidson, emphasizing that although there is no clear winner among the technologies, there is now a broad agreement that cold atoms are among the approaches leading the race.

Professor Davidson views the global trend of physicists moving from academia into industry not only as a technological shift but also as a human change. “The knowledge is created in universities, so the transition to application passes through the researchers themselves”, he says, “but the professors’ involvement is not a side phenomenon; it is almost a prerequisite at the present stage of the field”.

This trend is especially prominent in Israel. Within just a few years, a significant group of quantum companies has emerged, primarily in the hardware sector, at a scale unusual for a country of its size. Prof. Davidson also emphasizes the diversity of approaches: “Israel is active in almost all of the leading technologies, so we will have a presence in whichever one wins”. According to him, this broad participation is not only a scientific consideration but also a strategic one: the ability to remain relevant in a field defined from the outset as critical to the future.

The transition from academia to industry is not a matter of theory for Prof. Davidson. After decades of fundamental research as a partner in the Quantum Sensors Consortium, he became one of the founders of Q-Factor, a company seeking to develop a quantum computer based on cold atoms. From his perspective, this is a direct continuation of the same research. From this vantage point, the central question of the entire field becomes clearer: is this a technology on the verge of a breakthrough, or is it still a scientific effort with an unclear timeline?

Does he regard quantum computing as a real promise? “I can’t prove it, but my level of belief is high enough to stake my most valuable assets: time, knowledge, and energy”, Prof. Davidson replies. “I believe that if we take the physical understanding we have today and invest in technology, there is a reasonable chance that within ten years there will be a working quantum computer”.

Beyond its technological potential, Prof. Davidson sees the quantum computer as a scientific achievement of historic proportions. “The very existence of such a computer will teach us an enormous amount about physics”, he says. “Even if it has no practical applications, it would still be a tremendous achievement”. Like the moon landing, this effort is defined first and foremost by the breakthrough itself.

This is where the gap defining the field’s current stage becomes clearer: the goal cannot be achieved through academia alone. “If I had to build a quantum computer at the Weizmann Institute in the next ten years, I would definitely lose the competition”, explains Prof. Davidson.  Academia possesses the knowledge, but it does not have the resources or capabilities required to transform that knowledge into a fully functioning large-scale system.

He acknowledges that although academic funding enables fundamental research, it is far from sufficient to build a complete system. The gap between academic resources and those required for significant technological development is huge, sometimes even ten times larger. The significance is a deep structural shift. Ideas are born in academia, but their development and maturation move into industry, where companies know how to advance the technology.

Is the field still at a scientific stage, or has it already moved into a technological phase? For Prof. Davidson, the answer is complex. “I think it’s both. There is no doubt that science is incomplete. And yet, there is no distinct boundary between science and technology”, he adds. “Even within companies themselves, the research component remains significant. A large share of the R&D personnel consists of PhDs in physics, indicating how deeply the field relies on scientific knowledge. And since training a quantum physicist is a long process – at least ten years – the workforce isn’t expanding at the required pace”.

He notes that the Innovation Authority is promoting the field on two complementary fronts. On the one hand, it creates an ecosystem that connects academia and industry, sometimes even competing players. On the other hand, it provides direct investment in startups, enabling them to grow. “The Authority’s funding acts as a force multiplier”, adds Prof. Davidson. “For every shekel from the public sector, about ten shekels come from the private market. Furthermore, the investment also encourages companies to be established in Israel and to remain here, even in fields where the temptation to operate abroad is high”.

“There is a level of hype involved here, but also a real trend. You can see it in people’s actions. You see it in government budgets, in the Innovation Authority’s investments, in national programs, in the number of students enrolling in physics courses, and in the establishment of quantum hardware and software companies. Still, it’s important to understand that it won’t remain exclusively in physicists’ hands. Physicists invented quantum theory and drove the idea of a quantum computer, but for it to become a tool that discovers materials, solves problems, and contributes to humanity, it also requires algorithms, software, and people who understand computers.

Most of the companies founded in recent years will not succeed. But the few that do will be extremely significant”, says Prof. Davidson candidly. In that sense, he views public investment as a calculated gamble: high risk alongside high potential. As he explains, the field still relies heavily on deep fundamental research, and new and significant ideas are expected to emerge in the coming years, from both academia and companies. At the same time, scientific breakthroughs cannot be relied upon as the sole engine of progress because they are inherently unpredictable.

Research Does Not Stand Alone

At the Nonlinear Optics and Wave Propagation Laboratory at Tel Aviv University, Prof. Ady Arie works in one of the less intuitive areas of quantum physics, the quantum light. Not light in the familiar sense of illumination or industrial lasers, but the use of the quantum properties of light, which is composed of individual photons that can be generated, controlled, and entangled with one another.

“Most light sources we are familiar with – lasers, LEDs, fluorescent lamps, etc. – are not relevant for quantum applications”, he explains. “For quantum applications, we need very well-defined light: a single photon, or a pair of entangled photons”.

 Achieving this requires complex physical processes, including the use of nonlinear crystals, which can generate entangled photon pairs from a laser beam. This is a form of “light engineering” – the controlled creation of quantum states that can be used for information transfer or precise measurement, and sometimes for integration into broader technological systems. Prof. Arie’s work does not remain at the research level. Some of it is already nearing application and, in certain cases has begun to find its way into real-world systems.

One of the prominent areas is quantum communication, particularly technologies that enable the transmission of encryption keys in a manner that allows the detection of any attempt to intercept the communication. “There are already companies engaged in this field”, notes Prof. Arie, “and some systems are in use, although these are mainly solutions applied in specific scenarios, rather than as broadly adopted technologies”.

At the core of this capability is control over single or entangled photons. Prof. Arie’s group has developed methods to generate entangled photons and use them for data transfer via spatial encoding of light and other methods. A light beam can take on different shapes, such as a circle, a ring, or more complex structures, and each such shape can carry data, thereby increasing information capacity and the ability to control it.

This work is not limited to laboratory conditions. In one experiment, a system was built to generate entangled photons and send them through the atmosphere over a distance of about 90 meters. The goal was to examine the effect of atmospheric conditions on the signal, a first step toward experiments over longer distances, including possible applications involving drones and even satellites, where environmental conditions are far more complex.

 More recently, Prof. Arie’s group demonstrated that the quantum properties of light can substantially improve the sensitivity of physical measurements. At the same time, he emphasizes that a significant gap still exists between laboratory experiments and commercial products.

 “The systems are still large, complex, and often highly sensitive to the environment, and the transition to applications will require miniaturization, stabilization, and adaptation to uncontrolled conditions”.

A significant part of the activity occurs through industry collaborations, with support from the Innovation Authority. Within the framework of consortia and programs such as the Academic Knowledge Commercialization Agencies, researchers and companies work together on focused developments, sometimes building on existing technologies adapted to specific application needs.

Some of these collaborations also involve industrial companies seeking to explore how quantum capabilities can be integrated into existing systems, rather than developing entirely new technologies from scratch. This creates an environment in which academic research does not stand alone but is constantly examined in terms of its use, application, and value.

For example, technologies developed in academia, such as the use of nonlinear crystals to generate entangled photons, can be examined for how they integrate into industrial applications. The resulting picture is not one of an abrupt transition from science to technology, but of a gradual process, in which fundamental research continues to evolve alongside efforts to translate it into practical use.

Something Fundamental Must Change

“In recent years, the quantum field has been attracting growing attention, as well as significant investment”, says Prof. Ady Arie. “However, while quantum communication and sensors already have initial applications and systems in use, quantum computing still needs to meet the burden of proof, and meaningful results still lie in the future.  He notes that several competing approaches to building quantum processors are currently being pursued, including trapped-ion, cold-atom, superconducting, and photonic technologies.  “It is unlikely that all of these approaches will survive”, he says. “But one or two of them may ultimately emerge as the leaders”.

The challenge is not only technological, but also quantitative. Today, advanced quantum systems operate with approximately a hundred qubits. At the same time, estimates suggest that around one million qubits will be needed to achieve truly significant computational capability, and the current growth rate is not sufficient”, he explains. “We are still very far from the goal, and for the pace to accelerate, something fundamental needs to change”.

Nevertheless, he does not dismiss the potential. “The promise here is tremendous”, he says. “If we succeed in building such a computer, it will be able to solve problems in areas such as drug development, finance, and optimization that classical computers cannot handle”. At the same time, Prof. Arie emphasizes the differences between the various quantum domains. “In computing, solutions are still a prospect”, he says, “but in other fields we are already seeing results, even if they are not yet mature enough for widespread deployment”.

One of the central challenges remains the transition from lab to product. “In the university, it is enough that the system works under controlled conditions”, he explains, “but a product needs to be small, stable, and operate in a real environment.  That is a very different engineering challenge”.

 Economic viability presents another hurdle. “For a technology to progress from academia, there must be a market for it”, Prof. Arie explains. “There must be customers who are willing to pay for it. That does not always happen immediately”.

Collaborations between academia and industry play a central role in this context. “The existing programs – the consortia and the Commercialization of Academic Knowledge to Israeli Industry Program – are positive tools”, he says. “They make it possible to connect technology developed in academia with a real need in industry, and to test whether it can truly become a product”.

At the same time, he points to another gap – a knowledge gap. “Many engineers in industry were trained ten or twenty years ago, and the field has changed significantly since then”, he says. “This gap needs to be bridged for the technology to advance”.

When asked whether, in his opinion, the race toward applications comes at the expense of fundamental research, he replies that “Quantum theory itself was developed about a hundred years ago, but only in recent decades has it begun to permeate broad applications”. “We are now in a period called the ‘second quantum revolution’ stage in which we are not only using quantum phenomena but also building entire systems that operate with them”.

According to Prof. Arie, this process actually highlights the close connection between fundamental research and application. Something that began as a purely theoretical idea is gradually becoming a technological infrastructure.

Engineering a Completely Different World

Prof. Nadav Katz of the Hebrew University works at the intersection between deep theoretical research and the effort to build a functioning quantum system. He emphasizes that quantum computing is deeply rooted in academic research: unlike other areas of software, the algorithms, models, and theoretical understanding here precede any product.

“As an academic, I am very aware of the hype surrounding quantum technologies”, says Prof. Katz. “On the one hand, it’s very exciting. On the other hand, an application that runs on quantum computers requires years of intensive engineering work. We must remember that no progress can be made without fundamental research. It is important to invest money in industrial ventures. Still, we must also cultivate human capital, laboratories, and the ability to explore new directions – ones that may only mature a decade from now”.

Prof. Katz’s involvement extends well beyond theory. Toward the end of 2024, he co-founded Qarakal, together with Elta and the Hebrew University.  The startup has already built a functioning quantum computer – a system capable of performing calculations and producing results, even if it has not yet delivered clear commercial value. Today’s qubits, he notes, are a thousand to ten thousand times better than those of less than twenty years ago, and it is already possible to see early applications of what until recently seemed impossible.

Qarakal’s approach is unique: instead of focusing on continuously increasing the number of qubits, it starts with the architecture of the entire computer, enabling performance to be assembled for a full application and the system to be designed accordingly.

In practice, this means tightly integrated work across different teams – algorithms, architecture, chip development, measurement, and control – all operating in close coordination. According to Prof. Katz, the structure of a relatively small company enables a level of efficiency that is difficult to achieve in larger organizations, even with substantial resources.

“The quantum computer is far from the image of a personal computer”, says Prof. Katz. “It is more like a supercomputing farm than a laptop”. The system is based on superconducting circuits, which require clean, precise fabrication, cooling to extremely low temperatures, and dedicated electronics for measurement and control. “This is not the engineering of a conventional computer,” he emphasizes, “but of a totally new architecture”.

When will all of this become truly useful? Prof. Katz estimates that within about three years, quantum systems in Israel and worldwide will reach a level of error correction that facilitates deep computations with clear practical value.

He expects the first applications to be in areas such as optimization and logistics, quantum simulations, and pattern recognition in medical systems. At the same time, he emphasizes: “Quantum is not a magic solution. Every problem requires a specifically adapted quantum algorithm and a suitable architecture. There is an interesting family of problems that quantum computers can solve, and which regular computers cannot even begin to address”.

The Lab and the Company Feed Each Other

Qarakal operates on the Hebrew University campus, in a shared laboratory established as part of the company’s founding agreement. For Prof. Katz, this proximity is a strategic advantage. Access to human capital, the ability to collaborate with other researchers, and constant exposure to new ideas make academia an integral part of the company’s business model.

The relationship is bidirectional: fundamental research provides the company with new directions and outstanding talent, while the company reciprocates by bringing practical questions and resources back to the lab that academia struggles to secure on its own.

According to Prof. Katz, the main barrier to transferring knowledge from academia to industry is not only funding or bureaucracy but also human factors, such as motivation, initiative, and managerial capability. “When researchers have the drive and the focus, they also find the means”, he says.

Qarakal does not operate in isolation. It is part of Israel’s national quantum initiative, formulated in recent years to coordinate academic research, state funding, and industrial development. Prof. Katz himself was involved in shaping the program and has served since 2018 as the representative of the Israeli quantum community in a leading European flagship project in the field.

The company also participates in an Innovation Authority consortium, in which a working quantum computer was built. “The whole idea of a national program”, he says, “is that the different channels, such as the Innovation Authority, the Directorate of Defense, Research & Development (DDR&D), the Israel Science Foundation – speak the same language”.

Nevertheless, Prof. Katz warns against neglecting the basics: “It’s impossible to progress without fundamental research. It is not enough to invest only in industrial ventures. Effort must be made to cultivate human capital, laboratories, and the ability to explore new directions, ones that may only become significant decades from now”.

Quantum is no longer just a field of academic research, but it is not yet a mature technology either. It exists in an interim space – one in which deep scientific ideas are gradually translated into experimental systems; companies are built around them, and public policy attempts to accelerate the transition between them.

From different perspectives, all three researchers point to the same underlying trend: not a single dramatic breakthrough, but a gradual process of maturation. The question is not only when there will be a quantum computer, but what the world in which it operates will look like and how prepared we will be when that time comes.