MISTIQUE will accelerate the practical benefits of quantum sensors for society. It will derive its research program from the innovation needs of future transport systems and lay the physics and engineering foundations for practical deployment in the real world. MISTIQUE will address the need for solutions providing accurate navigation and timing without the use of satellite navigation services, or when these are unusable for periods of time. While satellite navigation services are immensely successful and readily available to everyone in their smartphones and cars, they have one significant drawback in their vulnerability to disruption. Such disruption by natural solar activity, or manmade jamming and spoofing devices has become a threat to our critical national infrastructure and our ability to navigate. Quantum sensors can in principle provide an extremely resilient solution to this challenge, however they still are too bulky, costly and sensitive to be routinely operated on a moving platform. MISTIQUE will build upon the successes of the UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Timing and hone in on the critical research challenges, which will allow the deployment of quantum sensors on moving platforms, ranging from marine vessels to aeroplanes in the first instance. This will provide the seed-corn to a larger research programme across civil and defence applications. It will provide the UK with small, cost-effective, robust and resilient solutions to critical national infrastructure, such as communication, energy and transport networks, land and water management as well as border control and instil the respective knowledge into the national supply chain.

This project aims at advancing the field of Atomic Spin Gyroscopes (ASGs) towards the development of a commercial navigation grade device. ASGs exploit the Larmor precession of atomic spins in thermal vapours that contain a mixture of alkali-metal and noble gas atoms. Besides the potential for navigation grade performance, ASG benefit from a simple, robust hardware, which is ideal for miniaturisation. The activities within this project aim at developing and testing new techniques which will lead to performances comparable to or better than the best state-of-the-art laboratory-based systems, but with a simplified, less sophisticated architecture, more suitable for the out-of-the-lab application, and commercialization of ASG targeting inertial navigation. On one side this will fill the current gap in the performances between laboratory based ASGs and the first industrial prototypes, on the other side it will bring closer to commercialization a platform still full of unexplored (quantum) potential, which has the capability to surpass existent technology (such as optical and MEMs gyros) both in terms of performance over integration level and of absolute performance. The techniques we propose are based on the combined exploitation of stable spatial diffusion modes of the atomic gases, and methodologies developed, within our groups, for differential and self-adjusting operation. With a significant improvement of the short-term gyro sensitivity, long-term stability, and self-adjusting operation modes, we will specifically target the realization of robust gyros, compatible with apparatus miniaturization, and out-of-the-lab application in adverse environmental conditions. This technology development ideally complements several ongoing UK efforts for the development of the atomic spin system instrumentation, performed in collaboration with commercial partners. The results of the project will be also of interest for the wider academic and industrial community working in atomic magnetometry, and quantum science.

This proposal straddles two key topics, High Temperature (HT) Electronics and Power Electronics. Present electronics is silicon-based and therefore limited to maximum operating junction temperatures of less than 150 degC, which gives a maximum ambient ceiling of around 105 degC. Commercially available components (rated for operation at elevated temperature) are in the range of 210-225 degC maximum. Therefore electronics for the automotive sector, especially for the emerging electric vehicles, and the aerospace sector is kept as far from the engine as possible to minimise the cooling requirements. Similarly, oil and gas engineers, attempting to harvest the fossil fuels (which we are still highly dependent on), face exactly the same problem with the electronics that are driving the drilling tool motor. Power electronic devices delivering hundreds of Watts of power to the motor must do so in an ambient that can exceed 225 degC, operating 10 km or deeper under the ground with only slurry pumped from the surface to cool the devices (temperature and time restrictions apply). The potential benefit for having electronics operating in these environments without cooling is huge, leading to greater efficiency, reliability, saving space, weight and importantly cost. Power Electronics plays a very important role in the electrical power conversion and is widely used in transportation, renewable energy and utility applications. By 2020, 80% of electrical power will go through power electronics converters somewhere between generation, transmission, distribution and consumption. So high-efficiency, high-power-density and high-reliability are very important for power electronics converters. The conventional Si-based power electronics devices have, however, reached the limit of their potential (after almost 40 years of development). The emergence of wide-bandgap material such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) based devices has brought in clear opportunities enabling compact, more efficient power converters, operating at higher voltages, frequencies and powers, and harsh environments (e.g. 300 degC ambients) and so can meet the increasing demand by a range of existing and emerging applications. Advances in GaN device structure and in process technology to significantly improve performance are pushing the adoption of these new power devices for very high voltage (>600 V), high temperature (>125 degC) and high power (mainly 6-40kW) applications. This trend is set to continue as the technology evolves. For 600V operation, a threshold voltage +3V would be desirable (well above the +1.6V maximum now achievable) for improved noise immunity. Also, presently, the device architecture compromises converter performance, e.g. in a half-bridge power converter module the current through the top switch transistor is modulated by its floating substrate potential. When this deficiency can be solved, the two transistors of the basic building block of all power electronic systems can be manufactured as a single integrated circuit reducing switching path inductance thus allowing faster switching and smaller cheaper passive components, increasing switch yield per wafer for the small devices targeted and reducing packaging costs. Reliable packaging methods for the new devices and ICs are indispensable for the required testing during development, and for the eventual exploitation in industrial HPHT applications. The required materials and joining methods at >300 degC ambient environments are completely different from those of conventional electronics, and need to be developed. These challenges with HT electronics and GaN switches/packaging form the main motivations for this project. The project brings together the UK's key academic and industrial expertise to work in synergy to investigate HT packaging and GaN power devices to realise a robust and high performance High Power High Temperature (HPHT) technology.

Quantum sensing, imaging and timing will deliver transformative advancements across multiple sectors, including healthcare, infrastructure, transportation, environmental sustainability and security. These technologies make seeing the invisible possible: the inside workings of our brains, the infrastructure buried beneath our feet, the polluting gases in the air around us, the cancers lurking in our tissue or the drones in our crowded skies. These are some of the challenges we are poised to address. Our Hub in Quantum Sensing Imaging and Timing (QuSIT) brings together academic experts and industry partners, collaborating to translate cutting-edge research into tangible innovations. QuSIT will capitalise on a decade of substantial governmental and industrial investments, consolidating expertise and world-class capability from two established UK Hubs: QuantIC, specialising in quantum-enhanced imaging and the UK Sensing and Timing Hub. QuSIT will be a unified centre of excellence, providing thought leadership within the UK's quantum technology landscape, crucial to the National Quantum Strategy. At the heart of QuSIT is a world-leading and diverse team of 45 investigators, comprising both emerging talents and seasoned experts. Their impressive academic track record is complemented by a shared commitment to translating innovation from the laboratory to address real-world challenges. Our researchers have a history of licensing technology to industry and launching their own ventures. The technologies we will exploit are based on both atomic states and entangled photons to create quantum devices that sense and image otherwise invisible optical wavelengths, radio-frequencies, magnetic and gravitational fields, and exploit precision time, including: Optical wavelength translation using non-linear interferometry and non-linear optics Atom interferometry for gravity and gravity gradient sensing Waveguide optics for wavelength conversion Optically pumped magnetometers for zero and high absolute fields Metasurfaces for lightweight and compact optics Wavefront shaping for seeing through obscuration Data fusion of quantum and classical sensor data, using AI and Bayesian Inference Quantum enabled frequency sources to enhance radar systems Our approach revolves around co-creating research with end-users, fostering collaborations between academics and industry players throughout the supply chain, and rigorously testing and refining our innovations through field trials in partnership with our collaborating companies, pursuing new approaches to: Line-of-sight imaging of polluting, or toxic gases and chemicals Monitoring of brain health Screening for concealed and dangerous objects Imaging of underground infrastructure Mid-infrared, holographic microscopes for clinical diagnosis Application of precise timing for the monitoring of congested airspace The hub is supported by companies and other end-users many of which have made significant investments. These include BT, BAE Systems, Department for Transport, Great Ormond Street Hospital, National Grid, National Physical Laboratory, Ordnance Survey and Severn Trent Water. In the increasingly competitive international landscape, QuSIT will provide the vision and have the convening power required to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of quantum technology internationally, delivering accelerated economic growth and societal benefits through collaboration between academia and industry.