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Advanced quantum clock for real-world applications

Description du projet

L’heure des horloges les plus précises du monde a sonné

Les horloges les plus précises au monde sont des horloges optiques, dont la marge d’erreur serait de moins d’une seconde à l’échelle de l’âge de l’Univers. Imaginez les opportunités qui en découlent pour les télécommunications (synchronisation des réseaux et navigation sans GPS), la géologie (surveillance des nappes phréatiques) et l’astronomie (détection des ondes gravitationnelles à basse fréquence). Dans ce contexte, le projet AQuRA, financé par l’UE, concevra la première horloge optique commerciale. Il fournira notamment la première horloge optique transportable construite par l’industrie avec une précision de pointe. En miniaturisant et en durcissant les composants de l’horloge (des sources laser à l’optique en passant par la source atomique), l’horloge sera 20 fois plus précise et trois fois plus petite que la version précédente. Le projet permettra ainsi de construire, de renforcer et de diversifier la chaîne d’approvisionnement européenne pour les horloges optiques.

Objectif

Optical clocks are amazingly stable frequency standards, which would remain accurate to within one second over the age of the universe. Bringing these clocks from the lab to the market offers great opportunities for telecommunications, navigation, sensing, and science, but no commercial optical clock exists. Europe's world leading optical clock technology within academia and national metrology institutes combined with its strong photonics industry, provide us with a golden opportunity to take a leading position in this strategic technology.
With AQuRA we want to seize this opportunity and build up a sovereign, efficient industrial capability able to build the world’s most advanced quantum clocks. We will deliver the first industry-built, rugged and transportable optical clock with an accuracy that approaches the best laboratory clocks. Our work is based on the experience that many of us gained by building an optical clock with industry during the Quantum Flagship project iqClock (2018-2022). In AQuRA industry takes the lead and will deliver a 20x more accurate clock in a 3x smaller volume at TRL 7. This will be possible by combining our industry partners’ experience in rugged photonics products with the know-how of our world-leading academic and national metrology institute partners. We will build, strengthen and diversify the European supply chain of optical clock components, filling critical gaps in the supply chain, and thereby establish a sovereign, competitive industry for optical clocks. In particular we will develop the rugged laser sources, miniaturized optical interface circuits, and the atom source needed for an optical clock, all of which will also become products on their own. Partner Menlo Systems will integrate these components with their ultrastable laser system into the AQuRA optical clock. We will accelerate market uptake by demonstrating our clock's usefulness to applications in telecom, geodesy and metrology, and by engaging with end users.

Coordinateur

UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM
Contribution nette de l'UE
€ 2 560 195,00
Adresse
Spui 21
1012WX Amsterdam
Pays-Bas

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Région
West-Nederland Noord-Holland Groot-Amsterdam
Type d’activité
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Liens
Autres sources de financement
€ 0,00

Participants (8)