INTERVIEW UK QUANTUM FUNDING → Our three subcontractors are Delta G,


Heriot-Watt University and the University of Glasgow. Delta G is a spin-off from the University of Birmingham, whose focus is to commercialise its QT gravity gradiometers that have direct applications in navigation, alongside civil engineering, infrastructure and resource prospecting. So we will be working with them to provide what will essentially be a box of lasers – called the NX Micro COTS laser system – that will be trialled in their gravity gradiometer. We’ll be collaborating with Delta G to understand the exact specifications and requirements of their sensor. For example, there are different pulse sequences that we’ll need to create with our lasers, and so this is the sort of specification we’ll determine together in the coming year. Meanwhile our partners from Heriot-Watt and the University of Glasgow will work with us on site to build the laser system together.


What positioning and navigational capabilities will these quantum sensors enable? GPS is the industry standard and when it works, it works well. However, with the increased move towards autonomous shipping there are very real concerns around its limitations, specifically from jamming or spoofing, which could cause ships to be lost or stolen. On the other hand, quantum enhanced navigation systems operate in isolation, without needing a satellite reference, making them an ideal alternative. The Delta G sensors, for example, measure the gravity gradient fields around them and compare these measurements to local gravity gradient maps. These new capabilities will enhance current inertial sensors, which use classical approaches to measure acceleration, speed and distance to calculate trajectories. These new navigational capabilities are quite extraordinary, allowing the drift in these classical sensors to be corrected, avoiding massive positional errors that can arise over long journeys. They will use a map of all the variations in gravity gradient around the entire planet. Once this map has been established, these quantum sensors will be able to locate themselves in reference to that map for navigational purposes. As these sensors just measure gravity


gradient, they’re applications are not only limited to navigation. For example, one big area being explored by BP is the maintenance of oil pipelines, especially those underground or underwater. This is because for much of the pipelines and cabling currently running across the ocean floor, they are actually quite hard to locate and identify. This makes maintaining them very difficult. Therefore quantum sensors


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Delta G’s gravity gradiometers will facilitate applications such as navigation and cartography


could be used to locate and assess the state of this equipment, which could cut down maintenance time and costs dramatically. Consequently, maintenance schedules could be optimised and be made more regular, which would help avoid disasters such as the 2010 oil spill.


Are timekeeping systems (quantum clocks) also a potential market for your lasers? Certainly, however this will likely form part of a future stage of development compared to where we are currently. Similar to quantum sensors, quantum


clocks will also dramatically improve on the current state of the art. For example, the scientific community currently uses clocks based on caesium atoms, which offer a time frequency reference of around 1014


Hz.


Quantum clocks could be up to four times more accurate than these, and so this is why the technology is being explored quite heavily. In order for these quantum clocks to


work however, atoms that naturally offer frequency transitions at an ultra-high precision are required. Ytterbium and strontium are the two main candidates currently being explored, however that still leaves the challenge of creating apparatus that can actually measure the transitions reliably. Therefore, we are currently seeking collaboration with the National Physics


“Quantum-enhanced navigation systems operate in isolation without needing a satellite reference”


Laboratory to assess whether our lasers are capable of meeting the demands of future strontium clocks. They have systems for benchmarking lasers for this type of application, and so we are hoping to deliver something similar or even better than the current state of the art. This timing application is still very much


in the research stage for us, however, while the areas of navigation and positioning are much more developed and on the verge of being commercialised.


Does the UK funding available for quantum PNT technologies differ to those available for computing and cryptography? Private investment in particular is strongly focused on quantum computing due to there being a huge market potential for the technology that is “first to the mark”. It’s anticipated that by 2029, the market for quantum technology will be around $60 billion, with more than half of that being attributed to quantum computing. Sensing, imaging and the other aspects of quantum will make up around $5-10 billion, with cryptography then making up the rest. The UK Government has declared quantum as being a strategic industry for the country, and so is looking to support different-sized businesses that can deliver on multiple aspects of quantum technologies – computing, cryptography, imaging and sensing. Consequently, public funding is actually


very well distributed across the different technologies and applications. The difference here is that the funding available for quantum computing is still very much research-oriented, while the funding available for sensors for PNT is much more focused on commercialisation.


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Stray et al. [1]


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