Korean quantum manufacturer SDT has joined Open Quantum Design, backing its Apache 2.0-licensed trapped-ion stack and connecting open quantum hardware with commercial manufacturing.
Korean quantum design-and-manufacturing (QDM) company SDT Inc. has joined Open Quantum Design (OQD), giving its open-source trapped-ion quantum-computing stack backing from an established Asian quantum hardware manufacturer.
OQD is developing what it describes as the world’s first fully open-source, full-stack trapped-ion quantum computer, with its hardware, control systems, and software developed openly under the Apache 2.0 licence. The approach allows nations, institutions, and companies to build on and modify the technology.
The partnership connects SDT’s commercial quantum manufacturing capabilities in South Korea with OQD’s open quantum-computing stack in Canada, linking two national quantum ecosystems. SDT specialises in cryogenic systems, quantum control electronics, and integrated quantum-computing platforms, and operates QuREKA, a hybrid quantum cloud platform integrating CPU, GPU, and QPU resources.
In a parallel agreement, SDT has joined LightFlow’s Preferred Vendor Program, connecting open quantum-system development with optical design, manufacturing, and commercial quantum hardware.
“When a manufacturer of SDT’s calibre chooses to build with an open stack, it tells you open isn’t a compromise — it’s the advantage,” said Greg Dick, Co-Founder and CEO of OQD.
“Scaling a quantum computer isn’t about one more breakthrough experiment; it is a systems engineering problem, solved at the level of ion traps, optical integration, control electronics, and manufacturing, all at once. That’s exactly where SDT has built its QDM capability,” said Jiwon Yune, Founder and CEO of SDT.
Founded in 2024, OQD is based in Waterloo, Canada, and aims to make quantum computing accessible worldwide by developing the complete stack in the open.
