Effective quantum use requires REE usage---turns warming.

Aside from the international threat from adversarial actors, technological and infrastructure challenges exist. Most quantum computers being developed worldwide will only work at fractions of a degree above absolute zero.124 This temperature keeps atoms and molecules in a quantum state. Any disruption (for example, a temperature increase), can cause a qubit’s voltage to spike and flip from one state to another,125 requiring multi-million-dollar refrigeration, which is incompatible with conventional electronic circuits as they will instantly overheat. Maintaining quantum computers at temperatures colder than deep space is expensive and daunting, but researchers worldwide are working on innovations. In Finland, researchers from the University of Helsinki have been developing cryostats for quantum computers since 1979.126 When IBM announced its system with 127 qubits, Bluefors, a Finnish start-up, stated that “we can handle that many in one enclosure using the most powerful system we have today.”127 While the compositional structure of quantum machines has traditionally used cryogenic cooling for large-scale quantum computers, DARPA has looked at alternative compositions of quantum machines. Quantum systems traditionally use magnetic traps to isolate ions, and then organize the ions into a chain of qubits. But with DARPA’s recent development, scientists have discovered a configuration optimized for a more efficient process using rare-earth materials.128 In a process called the Penning trap, scientists used a “combination of a magnetic field and an electric field to configure two-dimensional ion crystals that perform quantum operations.”129 Ibid. Rare-earth metals (such as neodymium or samarium cobalt) form powerful and permanent magnets, which the trap uses instead of cryo-cooled superconducting magnets. The research team built an ion chain using this method for the length of 10 qubits, which has promising results for adding more quantum systems to the chain and more accurate computations.130 Ibid. Rare-earth metals mining, development, and processing are essential components of thousands of consumer products to military weapons. China currently leads global trade and the acquisition of exclusive mining licenses worldwide. China has about 35 percent of the world’s reserves of rare-earth metals and refines about 70 percent of rare-earth elements for the rest.131 China has built factories close to the mines so that the raw material can quickly go into production. This increases efficiency and lowers production costs, making China an advantaged supply-chain provider and making it difficult for other countries to compete with it. For example, the country produced 120,000 metric tons (70 percent) of total rare earths in 2018, according to the United States Geological Survey. The U.S. pales in comparison, mining 15,000 metric tons of rare earths in 2018.132