The helium-3/helium-4 mixture that the dilution unit runs on, and the tank that stores it when the refrigerator is warm. Helium-3 is a rare isotope made mainly by tritium decay.
Why does a quantum computer need helium-3?
Because dilution cooling runs on it. The Congressional Research Service notes that low-temperature physicists use a mixture of helium-3 and helium-4 to reach a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, and that some cryogenic research can only be done with helium-3. In the mixing chamber, helium-3 crossing into the dilute phase absorbs heat; the still evaporates it, and the gas handling system’s pumps send it back down, a job a 2016 Bluefors manual gives to Pfeiffer turbopumps, Edwards and Agilent scroll pumps and a valve block developed with VAT. How much a refrigerator holds depends on its size: Interlune, as reported by The Quantum Insider, says today’s refrigerators each use a few dozen liters, and PostQuantum, a trade publication, cites about 5–12 liters for a Bluefors LD450sl and about 40 for an XLD1000sl. The USGS lists quantum computing among the main US uses, beside neutron detectors and research.
Where does helium-3 come from, and who sells it?
Almost all of it comes from the decay of tritium made for nuclear weapons or recovered from heavy-water reactors. DOE’s helium-3 is separated during tritium processing at the Savannah River Site and distributed by the DOE Isotope Program, which makes thousands of liters available each year; in Canada, Laurentis Energy Partners, part of Ontario Power Generation, has extracted it from tritium stored at the Darlington station since November 2021. The USGS estimates world output at 40,000 liters in 2024 and 2025, mostly from Canada, Russia and the United States. Among listed companies, Air Liquide distributes Laurentis’s helium-3 and sells it above 99.9% isotopic enrichment in 0.4–5 liter cylinders for uses including dilution refrigerators and quantum computing, Linde offers it among its isotopes, and Merck KGaA’s Sigma-Aldrich lists it in its catalog. Private Interlune plans supply from lunar soil and, with its Cold Capture process, from terrestrial helium.
How scarce and how expensive is it?
Supply grows slowly because tritium decays into helium-3 only gradually. The CRS reported in 2011 that US tritium decay yielded about 8,000 liters of new helium-3 a year and that commercial prices rose to $2,000 per liter or more after the shortage, against historical auction prices of about $40 to $85; DOE says demand reached as high as 70,000 liters a year in 2008 before recycling and alternative technologies cut projected federal demand below 6,000. Later figures come from other parties and are not combined here: the Edelgas Group, a helium consultancy, put the price near $2,500 a liter in 2024, and Interlune says US output is about 1 kilogram a year, selling for about $20 million a kilogram. Interlune’s agreements with Bluefors and Maybell call for deliveries from 2028 and 2029; they are plans, not supply in hand. In stock3d’s Scale mode, which charges about 40 liters per new large refrigerator against the USGS estimate, helium-3 turns amber at about 600 new systems a year.
How to research a helium-3 company
- Separate the chain: government tritium programs (DOE, and Ontario Power Generation through Laurentis) produce helium-3, distributors such as Air Liquide, Linde and Sigma-Aldrich purify and sell it, and Interlune’s lunar and Cold Capture supply is still in development.
- Compare prices only within one source: auction, catalog and per-kilogram quotes come from different parties, dates and grades.
- Read offtake agreements as plans: Interlune’s agreements with Bluefors and Maybell start deliveries in 2028 and 2029, and its Cold Capture output of up to 2.5 kilograms a year is its own estimate.
- Check exposure: helium-3 is a catalog line inside large gas and life-science groups, none of which reports helium-3 sales or names a quantum-computer customer.
- Watch substitutes and competing demand: helium-3-free millikelvin coolers such as kiutra’s are in development, and neutron detectors and research draw on the same supply.
- Use the list as a starting point: it is curated, not exhaustive, and the model is illustrative, not a bill of materials.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service: The Helium-3 Shortage (R41419)
Helium-3/helium-4 mixtures reach millikelvin temperatures; about 8,000 liters a year of new helium-3 from US tritium decay; auction prices of about $40–85 per liter and commercial prices of $2,000 or more after the shortage; Spectra Gases, now part of Linde, bought most auction lots.
- DOE Isotope Program: supply and demand of helium-3
DOE helium-3 is separated during tritium processing at the Savannah River Site; thousands of liters are made available each year; demand reached as high as 70,000 liters a year in 2008; projected federal demand is under 6,000 liters a year.
- USGS: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, helium and rare gases
World helium-3 production estimated at 40,000 liters in 2024 and 2025, mostly from Canada, Russia and the United States; US helium-3 mainly used for neutron detectors, research and quantum computing.
- Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council: Laurentis and Air Liquide helium-3 agreement, Dec 7, 2021
Laurentis Energy Partners signed a long-term agreement with Air Liquide to distribute helium-3 extracted at the Darlington station.
- Air Liquide Engineering & Technologies: helium-3
Helium-3 above 99.9% isotopic enrichment in 0.4–5 liter cylinders with a two-to-four-week lead time, for uses including quantum computing and dilution refrigerators.
- Air Liquide Canada: helium-3
Air Liquide purifies, packages and distributes helium-3 extracted by Laurentis at Darlington for dilution refrigerators and quantum computing.
- Linde: isotopes
Linde offers helium-3 among its specialty isotopes.
- Sigma-Aldrich (Merck KGaA): helium-3, 99.95 atom %
Helium-3 gas at 99.95 atom % is listed in the Sigma-Aldrich catalog.
- Interlune: US Air Force SBIR contract for domestic helium-3, Nov 19, 2025
US output of about 1 kilogram of helium-3 a year, a price of about $20 million per kilogram and a Bluefors agreement for more than $300 million of helium-3.
- Interlune: pure helium-3 from domestic helium with Cold Capture, July 20, 2026
Cold Capture could yield up to 2.5 kilograms of helium-3 a year; nearly $500 million of binding purchase agreements, primarily with Maybell Quantum and Bluefors.
- Bluefors: to source helium-3 from the Moon with Interlune, Sept 16, 2025
Bluefors agreed to purchase up to 10,000 liters of helium-3 a year for delivery from 2028 to 2037.
- The Quantum Insider: Maybell secures helium-3 supply from Interlune, May 8, 2025
Current dilution refrigerators each use a few dozen liters of helium-3; Maybell will take yearly deliveries from 2029 to 2035 (trade press relaying Interlune).
- Edelgas Group: helium-3 market report, Oct 22, 2024
Helium-3 trades at around $2,500 per liter, a consultancy estimate.
- PostQuantum (trade press): quantum cryogenic infrastructure and helium-3, May 23, 2026
About 5–12 liters of helium-3 in a Bluefors LD450sl and about 40 liters in an XLD1000sl, relayed from Bluefors product data.
- Krinner et al. (ETH Zurich): engineering cryogenic setups for 100-qubit scale superconducting circuits (arXiv, 2018)
The still is cooled by evaporating helium-3, and the helium-3 flow across the phase boundary in the mixing chamber sets the cooling power.
- Bluefors: BF-LD dilution refrigerator user manual v1.5.0, January 2016
The gas handling system uses Pfeiffer HiPace turbopumps, Edwards and Agilent scroll pumps and a valve block developed with VAT.
Engineering reference: Gas handling system example. Company-specific evidence is linked from the profiles below.
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