The concept and current status of quantum sensors, performance analysis and market applications
The creation of quantum theory is one of the most brilliant achievements of the 20th century. It reveals the structure, nature and movement laws of matter in the microscopic field, and introduces people's perspectives from the macroscopic field to the microscopic system. A series of phenomena that are different from classical systems, such as quantum entanglement, quantum coherence, and uncertainty, were discovered. At the same time, quantum theory and quantum methods have also been applied to the fields of chemical reaction, genetic engineering, atomic physics, and quantum information.
In recent years, the development of quantum informatics has made the manipulation and control of the quantum states of microscopic objects more and more important. Quantum control theory is solved by the theory and method of quantum control to solve the problem of quantum state control.
Quantum cybernetics is a discipline that studies the control problems of quantum states in microscopic world systems. Quantum sensors can be used to solve detection problems in quantum control.
The concept and current status of quantum sensors
In classical control, the measurement process is performed by various measuring instruments, and the transformation process is generally performed by the corresponding measuring sensor. The measuring instrument can be connected by a number of sensors in a suitable manner to perform the transformation, selection, comparison and display functions together. As in classical control, the key to measurement in quantum control is the comparison between measured and standard quantities. The observable measurement in quantum control corresponds to the corresponding self-conjugation operator in quantum mechanics. The direct measurement of the state of the quantum system is generally difficult to achieve. It is necessary to transform the measured measurement into a physical quantity that is easy to measure, and then realize the quantum state. Indirect measurement. This process can be done with a quantum sensor.
The so-called quantum sensor can be defined in two ways:
(1) a physical device designed to perform a transform function using quantum effects and according to a corresponding quantum algorithm;
(2) In order to satisfy the transformation of the measurement, some parts are subtle to the transformation elements whose quantum effects must be considered.
Regardless of the definition, quantum sensors must follow the laws of quantum mechanics. It can be said that the quantum sensor is a physical device designed to perform the transformation of the measured system according to the laws of quantum mechanics and using the quantum effect.
Like a thriving biosensor, a quantum sensor should consist of a sensor that generates the signal and an auxiliary instrument that processes the signal. The sensitive component is the core of the sensor, which uses quantum effects.
With the deepening of quantum control research, the requirements for sensitive components will become higher and higher, and the development of sensors themselves will also have a trend toward miniaturization and quantum development. Quantum effects will inevitably play an important role in sensors. The sensor will be widely used in quantum control and state detection.
Performance Analysis of Quantum Sensors
The performance quality of the sensor is mainly evaluated in terms of accuracy, stability and sensitivity. Combined with the characteristics of quantum sensors, the performance of quantum sensors can be considered from the following aspects:
(1) Non-destructive:
In quantum control, since the measurement may cause the wave function of the system under test to be reduced, and the sensor may also cause changes in the state of the system, the interaction between the quantum sensor and the system should be fully considered in the measurement. Because state detection in quantum control is essentially different from state detection in classical control, the state wave function reduction process that may be caused by measurement implies that the measurement of the state has destroyed the state itself. Therefore, non-destructive is a quantum sensor. One of the aspects that should be considered. In the actual detection, the quantum sensor can be considered as part of the system, or as the disturbance of the system, the Hamiltonian that interacts the sensor with the measured object is considered in the evolution of the whole system state;
(2) Real-time:
According to the characteristics of measurement in quantum control, especially the rapidity of state evolution, real-time performance becomes an important indicator of quality evaluation of quantum sensors. Real-time requirements require that the measurement results of the quantum sensor can be well matched with the current state of the measured object. If necessary, the quantum state evolution of the measured object can be tracked. When designing the quantum sensor, it is necessary to consider how to solve the measurement lag problem.
(3) Sensitivity:
Since the main function of the quantum sensor is to realize the transformation of the microscopic object, it is required that small changes of the object can also be captured. Therefore, when designing the quantum sensor, the sensitivity should be considered to meet the actual requirements;
(4) Stability:
In quantum control, the state of the controlled object is susceptible to the environment. When the quantum sensor detects the quantum state of the object, it may cause instability of the state of the object or the sensor itself. The solution is to introduce the idea of ​​environmental engineering, consider using a cooling trap, Protected by methods such as cryostats;
(5) Versatility:
The quantum system itself is a complex system, and interactions between subsystems or between sensors and systems are easy to occur. In practice, it is always expected to reduce the lag caused by human influence and multi-step measurement. Therefore, more Functions such as sampling, processing, and measurement are integrated on the same quantum sensor, and appropriate intelligent control algorithms are incorporated into it to design an intelligent, multi-functional quantum sensor.
Quantum sensors have many properties that are not available in classical sensors. When designing quantum sensors, it is important to consider the non-destructible measurement of quantum fields into measurable quantities. It should also be non-destructive, real-time, sensitive, stable, and The performance of quantum sensors is evaluated in terms of functionality and the like.
Market application of quantum sensors
In the United Kingdom, for example, there are more than 73,000 people in the field of sensors and related equipment, and the annual contribution to the economy is also so, so the importance of integrating the entire industry chain is self-evident. More than 14 billion pounds. The value derived from a sensor data service alone is already astronomical.
However, the imagination of quantum sensors is not limited to this: the development of quantum magnetic sensors will greatly reduce the cost of magnetic brain imaging, and contribute to the promotion of this technology; and the quantum sensor used to measure gravity will be expected to change the traditional Underground surveying is a cumbersome and time-consuming impression; even in the navigation field, areas that are often not searchable by navigation satellites are the use of inertial navigation provided by quantum sensors.
1. Civil engineering
Underground surveys are often extremely expensive and time consuming, but are necessary when building new infrastructure, especially before large projects such as high-speed rail and nuclear power plants are under construction. In fact, there are many unidentified underground environments with geological structures such as sewers, mines and sinkholes.
The cost of insufficient information is often very high, and engineering delays, overspending and re-planning are commonplace. The UK's approach to infrastructure maintenance is to spend £5 billion a year to dig 4 million holes on the road. The reason for this is that people don't know the exact location of the underground facilities.
In the general impression of people, any inspection should be carried out on the ground without the need to dig holes. The performance of existing radars, electronic detectors, and magnetometers is not ideal, and objects that are several meters above the ground are difficult to detect.
In this case, the usual solution is to use gravity sensing technology, because subtle changes in the gravity of any object buried in the ground can be recorded and plotted as a gravity map. However, the problem with conventional gravimeters is that the readings are inaccurate, time consuming and susceptible to ground vibrations.
But using quantum sensors for gravity measurements has clear advantages: faster speeds, more accurate readings, deeper detection, and no ground vibration. The wide application of this technology is bound to greatly promote the civil engineering industry.
2. Natural hazard prevention
In the UK, more than 5 million homes are at risk of collapse and settlement; the British railway sector also needs to monitor the water around the rails in real time to prevent landslides. The quantum sensor can well mark the risk on the gravity map where there is a risk of collapse and where there is too much water.
In addition, quantum photon sensors can quickly identify hazards such as oil spills on the surface. All of this is based on the characteristics of fast scanning of quantum sensors, which also makes normalized inspections possible.
3. Resource exploration
Access to natural resources such as oil and natural gas is focused on the determination of mining sites, which is a huge market worth $3 billion in the United States. The current mainstream form of exploration is seismic exploration, which is more effective, but the more expensive method of gravity measurement is only used where people know less.
But in fact, a large part of the high cost of gravity measurement comes from the adjustment equipment, and now the emergence of quantum-enhanced MEMS sensors reduces the operation of equipment adjustment, so that the entire measurement work can be pushed faster, even the cost has been reduced. One tenth.
4. Transportation and navigation
The more the transportation develops, the more it needs to know the exact location information and status of various vehicles. This also requires the number of sensors carried by cars, trains and airplanes. Satellite navigation equipment, radar sensors, ultrasonic sensors, optical sensors, etc. They will gradually become standard.
However, with these is not enough, the development of sensor technology will also face new challenges. The positioning and navigation accuracy of self-driving cars and trains are strictly required to be within 10 cm; the next generation driver assistance system must be able to monitor the local centimeter-level dangerous road conditions at any time. Using a cold-atom-based quantum sensor, the navigation system not only has the positional information accurate to centimeters, but must also have the ability to work in places such as underwater, underground, and building complexes that are not accessible to navigation satellites.
At the same time, other types of quantum sensors are also evolving (such as sensors operating in the terahertz band), which can accurately measure the accuracy of road evaluation to the millimeter level. In addition, the laser-based microwave source originally developed for the atomic clock can also improve the working range and working accuracy of the airport radar system.
5, gravity measurement
Light measurement is not suitable for all imaging tasks. As a new alternative, gravity measurements can reflect subtle changes in a place, such as inaccessible old mines, potholes, and deep underground water pipes. With this method, oil exploration and water level monitoring can also become extremely easy.
The new gravitational sensors and quantum-enhanced MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) technologies developed using quantum cold atoms have higher performance than previous devices and will have more important applications in business.
Low-cost MEMS devices are also being conceived, and it is expected to be only tennis-sized and sensitive to a million times more sensitive than motion sensors used in smartphones. Once this technology is mature, large-scale gravity field image rendering will become possible.
MEMS sensors have at least several orders of magnitude improvement in quantum imaging readout. Researchers from the University of Glasgow and Bridgeport University have developed a Wee-g detector that uses quantum light sources to improve equipment accuracy, even smaller objects can be detected – or contribute to avalanche and earthquake disasters. Rescue operations in the middle.
The cold atom sensor will have the highest accuracy, and the price/performance level is also unmatched. There is no more sophisticated technology to surpass it. The University of Birmingham is currently developing RSK and e2v cold atom sensors that will be used for daily gravity measurements. For example, help the construction industry determine the detailed conditions of the ground, reduce engineering delays due to accidental hazards, and get rid of dependence on expensive exploration and excavation.
In space, cold atomic sensors can achieve new scientific breakthroughs by detecting gravitational waves and validating Einstein's theory. Of course, conventional Earth remote sensing observations can also be achieved by accurate gravity measurements, including changes in groundwater reserves, glaciers, and ice sheets.
At the University of Glasgow, researchers are also creating a new and transformative space technology that uses MEMS sensors to fine-tune the height of the spacecraft, which will help strengthen the competition of British small satellite technology worldwide. force.
6, medical health
Dementia: According to the Alzheimer's Association, the annual economic loss caused by dementia is about 500 billion pounds, and this number is still increasing. The current diagnostic form based on patient questionnaires often severely limits the choice of treatment options, and only good early diagnosis and intervention can have a better effect.
Researchers are investigating a technique called magnetoencephalography (MEG) that can be used for early diagnosis. The problem, however, is that the technology currently requires magnetically shielded chambers and liquid helium cooling operations, which makes the technology promotion extremely expensive. The quantum magnetometer can make up for this shortcoming. It is more sensitive, requires little cooling and shielding, and more importantly, it costs less.
Cancer: A technique called microwave tomography has been used for early detection of breast cancer for many years, while quantum sensors have helped to increase the sensitivity and display resolution of this technique. Unlike traditional X-rays, microwave imaging does not expose the breast directly to ionizing radiation.
In addition, diamond-based quantum sensors have made it possible to study the temperature and magnetic fields in living cells at the atomic level, which provides new tools for medical research.
Heart disease: Arrhythmia is often seen as the number one killer in developed countries, and the pathological feature of the condition is the irregular heart rate at a fast and slow pace. The magnetic induction tomography technology currently under development is regarded as a tool for diagnosing fibrillation and studying its formation mechanism. The emergence of quantum magnetometers will greatly enhance the application of this technology in imaging clinical applications, patient monitoring and surgery. Planning and other aspects will be of great benefit.
Quantum sensors have broad application prospects. The current quantum sensors are mainly high-sensitivity magnetic sensors. On the basis of in-depth study of existing quantum sensors, the advantages of combining lasers should be considered, and the principle of photoelectric conversion should be used to design the laser coherence effect. Based on quantum sensors.
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