Fellow Dr Luca Sapienza from the Department of Engineering is a member of newly announced UK Hub for Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation and Timing (QEPNT).
The QEPNT hub – led by the University of Glasgow – will develop quantum technologies which will be key for national security, critical infrastructure and sectors such as aerospace, connected and autonomous vehicles, finance, maritime and agriculture.
It is one of five quantum research hubs supported by £160 million in funding announced by Peter Kyle MP on 26 July.
The five hubs will enable the UK to benefit fully from the potential of quantum technologies in areas ranging from healthcare and computing to national security and critical infrastructure.
Mr Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, said:
“This isn't just about research; it's about putting that research to work. These hubs will bridge the gap between brilliant ideas and practical solutions. They will not only transform sectors like healthcare and security, but also create a culture of accelerated innovation that helps to grow our economy.”
Quantum technology harnesses properties, like wave-particle duality, energy quantisation and entanglement that can be found in the smallest constituents of light and matter (single photons, electrons and atoms), to dramatically increase the functionality of devices and achieve high-performing computing, secure communication, improved imaging, sensing, positioning and timing.
Dr Sapienza’s group will investigate how single photons - the smallest constituent of light - can improve the accuracy of positioning and navigation systems in order to develop quantum-enhanced devices to replace global positioning satellites (GPS) which are vulnerable to technical problems or deliberate signal-jamming.
Cambridge colleagues who are also part of the QEPNT hub include Professor Louise Hirst (Materials Science and Metallurgy/Cavendish Laboratory) and Dr Dave Ellis (Cavendish Laboratory). The hub is also supported by researchers from Imperial College London, the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Loughborough, Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt, Warwick and Queen’s University Belfast.
The Integrated Quantum Photonics Group website.
