Quantum Sensing
- [Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House, Sydney, Australia - Photologic]
- Overview
Quantum superposition states can be very sensitive to a number of external effects, such as electric, magnetic and gravitational fields; rotation, acceleration and time, and therefore can be used to make very accurate sensors.
There are many experimental demonstrations of quantum sensing devices, such as the experiments carried out by the Nobel laureate William D. Phillips on using cold atom interferometer systems to measure gravity and the atomic clock which is used by many national standards agencies around the world to define the second.
Efforts are being made to engineer quantum sensing devices that are cheaper, easier to use, more portable, lighter and consume less power. If successful, this is expected to lead to multiple commercial applications, such as monitoring of oil and gas deposits, or in construction.
<More to come ..>
