Integrated Photonic Quantum Sensing Takes Aim at Climate Research

AUSTIN, Texas, March 28, 2023 — A NASA-funded collaboration will focus on advancing quantum sensing technology to enable new understanding of Earth and the effects of climate change. Led by the University of Texas at Austin (UT), Quantum Pathways Institute collaborators are working to develop sensors that could help satellites in orbit collect data about how atoms react to small changes in their environment.

This information could then be used to infer the time variations in Earth’s gravity field.

As part of the effort, researchers will develop photonic integrated circuits (PICs) to help monitor Earth’s environment from space.

An example of an atomic-photonic integrated chip for cold atoms. Courtesy of Andrei Isichenko, UCSB.

SOURCE

https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Integrated_Photonic_Quantum_Sensing_Takes_Aim_at/a68878