Quantum Metrology

Quantum-based measurement methods and sensors exploit special effects of quantum physics, such as quantum entanglement, and will allow research to develop applications with unprecedented high sensitivity and accuracy in the future.

Quantum imaging uses non-classical photon states to make imaging with previously unused wavelengths possible, e.g. for applications in biology, medical or metrology. In this field, Fraunhofer ILT is developing, among other things, parametric photon sources for quantum imaging applications in the mid-infrared (MIR), where many substances have characteristic absorption lines. With entangled photons, interaction and detection wavelengths can be separated and highly sensitive silicon detectors used to evaluate image information. 

New solutions based on quantum technology are also in demand in production metrology: Here, the combination of optical coherence tomography (OCT) with quantum imaging is of particular interest. The OCT method can be combined with quantum interferometers, e.g. to detect internal defects and volume properties in ceramics.

Quantum sensors will make applications with unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy possible. Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in the lattice structure of diamond crystals can be used, for example, to measure magnetic fields with particularly high sensitivity. In the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Advanced Photon Sources CAPS, Fraunhofer ILT is conducting research, among other things, on generating NV centers in diamond using ultrafast laser pulses.

Fraunhofer ILT is also involved in developing high-precision thorium-229 clocks based on quantum technology. These use a radiation transition in the thorium atomic nucleus and are expected to exceed the accuracies of all previous cesium and optical atomic clocks. Thorium nuclei are excited with high-precision lasers, which are the subject of current research.

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