Edwards Vacuum

Edwards Vacuum is a British engineering company founded in 1919 by physicist Frederick David Edwards and his father William, specializing in vacuum and cryogenic technologies for semiconductor, research, and industrial applications. Headquartered in Burgess Hill, UK, and part of the Atlas Copco Group since 2014, Edwards acquired Brooks Automation's CTI-Cryogenics and Polycold cryopump operations in 2018 for $675 million, significantly expanding its cryogenic capabilities. Edwards' cryogenic products serve the quantum computing industry, with photonics-based and ion-trap quantum computers requiring bespoke cryogenic solutions. In February 2022, Edwards joined a consortium led by Universal Quantum, awarded a £7.5M grant from Innovate UK to develop an error-corrected quantum computer, with Edwards responsible for designing, assembling, and commissioning the extreme high vacuum system for the quantum error correction quantum computer (QEC QC). Edwards' combination of vacuum technology expertise and cryogenic systems positions it as a critical supplier to the global quantum computing hardware ecosystem.