ANALYSIS:WORLD OF QUANTUM
From cats to cameras: A quantum story
Matthew Dale spoke with QuantIC at Laser World of Photonics to learn if quantum technologies are indeed ready for showcasing on the global stage
T
his year saw the debut of the World of Quantum hall at the Laser World
of Photonics, where quantum technology and its applications in areas including computing, cryptography, sensing, imaging, communications and medicine were explored. Electro Optics approached
Professor Miles Padgett, principal investigator at the UK quantum hub for imaging ‘QuantIC’ – one of the exhibitors in the newly established hall – to learn if now is indeed the right time for quantum to be given its own place among the other exhibition sectors.
Emerging from the lab Padgett began by noting that despite the debut of the new hall this year, Laser World of Photonics has in fact played host to quantum technologies for a number of years already, which is why this was the third time that QuantIC exhibited – along with numerous other quantum entities that have also previously been at the show. ‘Now, in terms of creating
even more of a quantum focus with the establishment of the new exhibition hall, I would say this is in part a result of Germany wanting to further encourage the collaboration of its quantum research with industry,’ he said, ‘and that’s what Messe München is looking to drive through this year’s show. This will be very beneficial for the country as the volume of activity Germany has in high-tech photonics is
12 Electro Optics May 2022
huge, and so there are some fantastic opportunities there.’ He elaborated that this
reflects a global trend currently underway – that governments worldwide are now looking to reap the benefits of their years of investment in quantum research. ‘From a UK perspective,
it was back in 2014 that the government decided the time had come to translate its world- leading science in quantum technologies into commercial, economic and societal benefits,’ said Padgett. ‘Consequently, it made investments amounting to around £300m into quantum technologies, establishing four quantum hubs in the process. This investment has since increased to around £1bn.’ At the same time companies such as Germany, France, America, Australia and China have also been strongly funding quantum research, with investments totalling around £30bn worldwide, according to Padgett. ‘And so this has very much become a global activity,’ he remarked.
Back in 2014, however, the
hype surrounding quantum was certainly not at the level it is today. ‘Back then, industry most likely regarded “quantum” as being something to do with cats in boxes, and lots of incredible- sounding ideas and concepts,’ said Padgett. ‘It was unclear to them how that would translate into commercial benefits. So I think what’s happened over the last eight years or so is that companies have really started to see how quantum can improve
existing technologies, such as microscopes, telescopes, communications and computers, while at the same time opening up completely new opportunities.’ This change in perspective
is the result of quantum gradually moving from the lab to actual, usable technologies that can be wielded by industry today. ‘It’s not just research anymore,’ Padgett remarked. ‘There are now real examples of products you can buy based on quantum technologies. For example, the CMOS Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) arrays developed by Robert Henderson at the University of Edinburgh, working with STMicroelectronics, have since led to a new type of camera.’ Rather than every pixel
recording the intensity of light, as is done by a normal camera, these new SPAD cameras record the time at which the first
“Back then, industry most likely regarded “quantum” as being something to do with cats in boxes… now companies have really started to see how it can improve existing technologies”
photon arrives, which can be used, for example, to monitor the timescale of the fluorescence of a biological cell. Glasgow-based Horiba has since developed a new product based on this type of camera, which performs fluorescence lifetime imaging. ‘So that’s just one example of
something that’s come all the way from a research lab into an actual product,’ said Padgett. ‘Clearly not all of the research has done that, but much of it is on that journey. And that’s just from our hub; the other three UK hubs, based in Birmingham, Oxford and York, all have similar examples. It is these types of products – the culmination of years of research – that attendees can see at this new exhibition hall.’
Exhibiting on the global stage We asked Padgett what QuantIC was looking to achieve from exhibiting in Munich – whether it was just to showcase the new technologies emerging from the lab, or whether it was also to encourage further partnerships with industry/academia, or perhaps attract fellow exhibitors with photonic components that could help QuantIC develop its own technologies further. ‘So really it’s all of the
above,’ he said. ‘For us, there are two main events in our annual calendar: Laser World of Photonics and SPIE Photonics West. Both are examples of joint industrial/academic conferences, where in addition to the industrial exhibition there’s also a world-class academic conference. And while there’s nothing unusual with academic quantum researchers attending these meetings, what is unusual is them having a presence on the industrial exhibition floor, and that really shows the transition of these technologies from an academic paper, to a technology demonstrator, to
QuantIC exhibited at the new World of Quantum hall this year to showcase real examples of products based on quantum technologies – for example, this ultra-sensitive infrared microscope
@electrooptics |
www.electrooptics.com
QuantIC
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
