CAMBRIDGE, England,
May 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The
modern world depends heavily on GPS satellites to navigate, but too
often, access to them is lost or even jammed. This creates a
significant risk to safety in multiple industries — especially
aerospace, but also automotive and consumer electronics. Following
the world's first successful flight demonstration of quantum
navigation technology in May 2024
by BAE, QinetiQ, and Infleqtion, this article outlines the
power of quantum sensors.
The quest for more reliable precision navigation and timing
technology solutions is now driving significant interest in quantum
sensors and atomic clock technology. This is just one of the
many applications of this revolutionary technology covered in
IDTechEx's Quantum Sensor Market report, in what is predicted to
become a multi-billion-dollar industry within the decade.
Quantum sensors offer more precision compared to
incumbents
Quantum sensors use quantum phenomena to enable highly
sensitive measurements of many physical properties. They can
measure time (atomic clocks), magnetic field and current, gravity,
angular motion, single photons, and more. Emerging quantum
technologies within the quantum sensors market are also
benefitting from the growing hype around quantum computing and
quantum communication technologies (particularly given their
applications for cybersecurity).
To date, the most common method to accurately determine one's
position and the local time is via data from a global navigation
satellite system (GNSS), for example, the US military's global
positioning system (GPS). However, there are environments where
access to GNSS data is restricted. This can be a result of highly
mountainous terrain blocking signals or spoofing by a third party.
Precision navigation systems are under increasing pressure to
remain reliable in GNSS denied environments.
Continuing to navigate when triangulation capabilities are lost
depends on accurate measurements of distance traveled, direction,
speed, and time. Existing motion sensors, gyroscopes, and local
oscillators (clocks) don't have sufficient accuracy for precision
navigation. The promise of quantum sensors and atomic clocks is
that they are fundamentally much more accurate than traditional
approaches, so much so that they can provide local access to
precise inertial navigation systems without depending on GNSS.
Atomic clocks and cold atoms
For example, all clocks measure time using some form of
resonator or oscillator. For hundreds of years, clock technology
has improved in accuracy, progressing from measuring how many hours
have passed to minutes, seconds, milliseconds, and so on. This
increase in sensitivity has depended on access to higher frequency
oscillators; we have progressed from using cycles of sun-rises
through pendulums and quartz and now to atomic transitions. There
is now a range of atomic clocks that use high-frequency
oscillations between atomic energy levels commercially available,
as well as others under development aiming to offer even higher
accuracy measurements of time- from players such as Microsemi,
Teledyne, Infleqtion, and more. Similarly, quantum gyroscopes can
use the sensitivity of quantum properties, such as spin, to
determine rotation with a high degree of accuracy. Others are even
investigating the potential of quantum gravimeters and quantum
magnetic fields sensors for mapping and navigation
applications.
There are multiple hardware approaches to manufacturing quantum
technology for a variety of sensing applications. In IDTechEx's
quantum sensors market report, there is coverage of photonics,
superconducting, alkali vapors, diamond, and more. The method
championed by Infleqtion in the recent flight demonstration with
BAE is 'ultra-cold atoms'. Lasers can be used to trap atoms
which makes their energy levels so low it has a cooling effect. In
this state, the quantum properties of the atoms can be manipulated
to make precise measurements. With specialized magneto-optical
traps, ultra-high vacuum cells, ion pumps, rubidium atom sources
and optics – Infleqtion have been able to decouple measurement of
position from the environment completely and contribute to omitting
the dependence on GPS to navigate within a plane.
Market outlook
To date, many quantum sensing technologies have remained too
large or expensive to be adopted for mass-market navigational
needs. For example, some cold-atom technology still requires a
'rack-mountable' form factor (still impressive for quantum but less
competitive with classical technology). However, as well as showing
progression towards readiness for the aerospace sector, quantum
technology may also be on track to be miniaturized even
further. Many applications, including precision navigation, are
targeting chip-scale fabrication in the long term. This could
coincide with the adoption of autonomous cars in the next 10 years,
which would represent a key high-volume use case for such a
product. Here, navigational precision of a few cm is essential –
but size, weight, power, and cost are also a high priority.
Moreover, within dense urban environments, many smartphone and
wearables users commonly struggle to navigate using apps, e.g.,
Google Maps, due to loss of GPS signal – and many users may well
value a higher precision solution in the future.
Overall, while quantum sensors can seem somewhat niche today,
their mass-market potential should not be overlooked. As early
adopters in aerospace begin to demonstrate the value of quantum
technology, other markets—particularly automotive — are likely to
follow in the future. As quantum sensing innovations continue,
perhaps in the future, we may all find ourselves with 'un-jammable
Sat-Navs' in our cars and pockets, too.
While this article has highlighted precision navigation as an
example of the quantum sensing revolution – quantum sensing
technology more broadly has applications in remote current sensing
for electric vehicles, medical diagnostics, underground mapping and
much more. For more information on the commercial outlook for
quantum sensor technology mentioned in this article, including
twenty-year market forecasts, see IDTechEx's latest, "Quantum
Sensors Market 2024-2044".
Find coverage of related topics in IDTechEx reports on quantum
computers, wearable technology and autonomous vehicles. Sample
pages are available for all IDTechEx reports. Visit
www.IDTechEx.com/Research/Quantum for more on quantum related
technologies.
About IDTechEx
IDTechEx provides trusted independent research on emerging
technologies and their markets. Since 1999, we have been
helping our clients to understand new technologies, their supply
chains, market requirements, opportunities and forecasts. For more
information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or
visit www.IDTechEx.com.
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