The UKRI grant will fund King's, Exeter, and Nottingham to advance next generation quantum sensing technologies
King's is part a new multi-million-pound collaborative project developing next generation quantum sensing technologies, alongside the University of Nottingham and led by the University of Exeter.
Awarded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to the UK research team, the £1.5 million five-year collaboration also has a separately funded research team in Japan, led by Tokyo University alongside Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology and Waseda University Tokyo.
The researchers aim to develop smarter control techniques to make quantum sensors faster and more accurate in "noisy" environments. These sensors will improve medical diagnostics, navigation without GPS, and resource exploration, while advancing fundamental science and training the next generation of quantum experts.
Dr Mark Mitchison, Royal Society University Research Fellow and Proleptic Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics, King's College London, said: "Quantum sensors use the bizarre properties of the tiny particles that make up our Universe - like electrons, atoms, and photons.
"These sensors already exist, but they are very susceptible to influences from their environment, which obscure the signal they are trying to measure. By combining advanced measurement and data processing techniques with state-of-the-art quantum sensors based on atoms and photons, we aim to develop noise-resistant sensors. We also aim to investigate completely new kinds of sensing devices that use the complicated motion of many interacting quantum particles to boost sensitivity."
Professor Janet Anders from the University of Exeter is leading the UK team and said, "Almost all advanced technology relies on sensors in some way. Our phones are full of them - the camera is packed with light sensors, an acceleration sensor detects hand movements, and a magnetic sensor helps navigation. Sensors are also used in medical scanners, cars, planes, and factories."
Dr Lucia Hackermueller from the University of Nottingham said: "The enhanced sensitivity from these new sensors will enable us to detect things that we couldn't measure so far - allowing new insights and technical developments.
"Our work could unlock a range of new applications, from improved brain imaging, to photon storage, to navigation devices that work without linking to a satellite."
UK institutions will host numerous extended visits by junior researchers from Japan over the next five years, while UK researchers will also go to Japan. This allows the project to share expertise and establish a network of scientists, laying the foundation for both nations' future advances in the important area of quantum technology.
By the end of the five-year project, the team will have performed proof-of-principle experiments that demonstrate how noise-resistant quantum sensors could improve technologies such as brain imaging.
