August 12, 2025
K1 Semiconductor has joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) — a leading hub for advancing quantum information science and engineering — becoming part of a world-class corporate network that includes Boeing, IBM, Applied Materials, Toshiba, Microsoft, and other pioneers.
“We joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange to help bridge cutting-edge semiconductor materials research with scalable, US-based manufacturing,” said Connor Horn, K1’s co-founder and CEO. “As we commercialize our wafer-reuse technology, we’re excited to collaborate with CQE partners working at the forefront of quantum devices, photonics, and advanced packaging. Chicago’s quantum ecosystem is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation and we’re proud to be part of it.”
How K1 Will Collaborate with CQE
Through the partnership, K1 will:
- Work with leading researchers and industry innovators on integrating our wafer-reuse process into the fabrication of quantum devices, photonics systems, and advanced packaging solutions.
- Engage via the CQE Founder Platform to identify lab facilities, hire talent, and explore commercial collaborations with other CQE partners focused on materials fabrication and quantum sensing.
- Advance R&D partnerships to address technical challenges in scaling next-generation semiconductor materials such as diamond, silicon carbide, gallium nitride, and lithium niobate.
- Strengthen the domestic supply chain by aligning with CQE’s network of universities, national labs, and corporate partners.
We are already collaborating with Great Lakes Crystal Technologies, a CQE corporate partner manufacturing diamond substrates for quantum sensing and other advanced applications. This partnership illustrates the kind of high-impact, supply-chain-building collaborations that will be critical to U.S. leadership in quantum technology.
What Leaders Are Saying
“K1 Semiconductor’s work highlights two critical strengths of the Illinois-Wisconsin-Indiana quantum ecosystem: the role of Midwest-grown startups in developing key components of a domestic quantum supply chain and the important role of academia in driving the commercialization of the quantum technology sector,” said David Awschalom, the Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and Physics at UChicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering and the founding director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange. “We are delighted to welcome K1 Semiconductor to the CQE and look forward to working with them.”
“Building a sustainable, scalable quantum supply chain will require the integration of highly specialized suppliers and manufacturers,” said Kate Timmerman, CEO of the Chicago Quantum Exchange. “K1’s collaboration with Great Lakes Crystal Technologies is an encouraging indicator of the nascent, but important, steps our region is taking to build the innovation pipeline needed to power US leadership in the growing quantum technology sector.”
The news was also picked up by The Quantum Insider, one of the most widely read global platforms for quantum technology updates.
About the Chicago Quantum Exchange
The CQE is based at the University of Chicago and anchored by the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Northwestern University, and Purdue University. The CQE includes more than 50 corporate, international, nonprofit, and regional partners.
