“The beauty of quantum technology is that we are far from
its physical limits” states Professor Kai Bongs, Director of the UK National
Quantum Technology Hub for Sensors and Metrology, in the August edition of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
(PNAS).
Written by Stephen Battersby, the article reflects on the
quiet, steady development of quantum sensors, and the huge potential offered by
an incredibly miniature science.
In the article, Professor Bongs describes how cooling
systems and lasers have enabled researchers at the Quantum Technology Hub to
manipulate and measure the quantum states of atoms: “We are at this sweet spot
where we have quantum systems under sufficient control”. The aim now is to reduce the size and weight
of the sensors, to make them portable, cheaper and more adaptable for
real-world applications.
Nicole Metje, Professor in Infrastructure Monitoring, speaks
about developing quantum gravity sensors to detect buried infrastructure in the
article. Aside from digging holes, it is currently very difficult to know what
lies beneath the ground. Current technology offer a limited subterranean view
of the underground, but quantum sensors will enable engineers to peer through
the ground and assess the underground assets much deeper and accurately than
ever before.
Researchers at the Quantum Technology Hub are working with
industry to transition the technology out of the labs into garida.net uncontrolled
environments, ensuring its capabilities and resilience. An example of this is
the prototype gradiometer, named the Gravity Imager, which was successfully
field-tested in 2018. This technology will be able to spot a water-filled pipe
twice as deep as current technology can manage, and efforts are now being made
to reduce the size of the sensor.
Magnetic quantum sensors are also being developed, using the
magnetoencephalography technique, to enable non-invasive brain monitoring. This
will greatly help the healthcare sector in terms of diagnosing brain conditions
such as dementia, and even epilepsy in children.
Quantum sensors are just at the ‘verge of commercial
reality’, and there are still huge opportunities for improvements and more
technological advancements as development continues.
To read the article, click on this link: https://www.pnas.org/content/116/34/16663
Republished from https://www.quantumsensors.org/news/the-quiet-revolution-of-quantum-sensors/
