Quantum technologies may seem very complex, but their importance is very simple – they can help solve difficult problems in medicine, energy, logistics, and security.
And while the world of quantum can sound very futuristic, those technologies are already being developed and implemented to address globally significant problems.
In the latest episode of the Engineering the Future podcast series, UNSW expert Associate Professor Jarryd Pla and Professor Peter Turner, CEO of the Sydney Quantum Academy, explained why they are so excited to both work in the field and train the next generation to find ever more useful ways to use quantum technologies.
The timing could not be more appropriate, with 2025 officially proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. This recognises the 100-year anniversary of modern quantum mechanics, which is the fundamental physical theory describing the behaviour of matter and energy at very small scales.
Sensing, communication and computation
Today, quantum technologies are reshaping our world in amazing ways, with three major categories being especially exciting: quantum sensing, quantum communication, and quantum computing.
Quantum sensing uses the special properties of quantum physics to measure things more accurately than any tools we have today.
Quantum communication can help send and encrypt information in ways that make it nearly impossible to hack, resulting in safer banking and more secure internet connections.
The third category, quantum computing, uses quantum bits that are known as qubits to solve certain complicated problems much faster than normal computers can.
This could help researchers in the near future invent new medicines, design better materials and develop cleaner energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"When we discuss quantum in terms of technologies, we're talking about things that utilise quantum mechanical laws to do something interesting," says A/Prof. Pla, from UNSW's School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications.
"There are many technologies that we use today that have had quantum mechanics in them for decades, since the first quantum revolution, which happened in the early 1900s. That gave us devices like transistors, diodes, and lasers. You wouldn't have computers, medical lasers, these sorts of technologies without those devices.
"Now we have technologies coming from the second quantum revolution, which is actually currently underway. And these are things that use some sort of quantum phenomenon in a sophisticated way to do something that we couldn't do in the past.
"And that gives us technologies like quantum computers, quantum-enhanced sensors, atomic clocks and so on."
Superconducting quantum interference device
One example of quantum enhanced sensing highlighted in the episode is a superconducting quantum interference device, or SQUID.
This is an extremely sensitive tool for measuring tiny magnetic fields, which has been strongly developed by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) for use in mining to help find valuable minerals underground.
The technology has been credited with the discovery of ore deposits worth at least $4 billion in Australia.
"CSIRO worked out how to make these SQUID magnetic field sensors using superconductors that superconduct at higher temperatures than normal," says A/Prof. Pla.
"What that allowed them to do is put these things in planes and fly them across Australia and detect iron ore and other mineral deposits underground, something you couldn't do before. So, these are things that have existed for some time. They're here, they're delivering benefit."
Prof. Turner's position at Sydney Quantum Academy – a unique partnership between Macquarie University, UNSW Sydney, the University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney which aims to make Australia quantum-ready – means he is excited about the development and use of quantum technologies into the future.
"This second generation of quantum technologies changes information theory, it changes computation, it changes communication. And we're still figuring out what that means," he says.
"I think it's fair to say that a completely error-corrected utility scale quantum computer is the holy grail of the field. That is the main goal. But it is also the most complex.
"We're quite confident that quantum computers are going to be able to produce new materials, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, anything that's quantum. These machines that we're hopefully going to be able to engineer will be able to simulate them very, very quickly, much more quickly than a supercomputer can.
"However, it's the younger generation that's going to discover new things once they have them in their hands. We have some ideas, but like any other technology, it's once you start playing with it, once you start using it, the ideas really start to come."
Life-changing impact
A/Prof. Pla says there is growing belief that quantum researchers will have a massive impact on the way we all live in the future.
"Quite a few of these quantum technologies are already here, although they do need to be made better, more reliable and more stable. But that's on a timescale of years rather than decades," he says.
"I would hope in 20 or 30 years' time that not only do we have a working quantum computer, but that we actually have multiple different types of working quantum computers. And on top of that, these quantum computers are at a size and scale that they're actually solving globally significant problems.
"They will be used to look at things like creating more efficient catalysts for chemical reactions, which has the potential to bring us closer to net-zero emissions, for example. Or for designer drugs and vaccines for different diseases and ailments.
"I think in this quantum simulation space, which is what most of those applications refer to, the impact can be pretty life-changing." To listen to the full Engineering the Future podcast, visit: https://www.unsw.edu.au/engineering/news-events/events/engineering-the-future
