Military Researchers Address Hurdles for Quantum Technology

The War Department is moving quantum technology closer to operational deployment in areas such as highly accurate, jam-proof navigation and miniaturized sensors.

Speaking at the Quantum World Congress in College Park, Maryland, last week, leaders from DOW and government research organizations discussed the current state of quantum technologies and their ongoing challenges around standards, funding and supply chain security.

Army Working on Atomic Clock

While the government’s focus is on quantum computing, some quantum technologies, such as atomic clocks, have been in use for decades, noted Frederik Fatemi, senior research scientist for quantum science at the Army Research Laboratory. Speaking from the Army’s perspective, he explained that the goal is to make devices that are compact and easily carried by a single warfighter.

“Our ultimate platform is the soldier. So, when we look at quantum technologies, how can we put them into a package that the solider can ultimately carry?” Fatemi said.

The Army is currently developing a low-cost, chip-scale atomic clock. The goal is to have an inexpensive device that can be installed in a variety of equipment to aid with communications and navigation.

As part of this work, the Army is working with NIST to develop photonic integrated circuits. These would rely on miniaturized lasers to move light through the device in the same way conventional chips move electrons for data. The challenge is miniaturizing lasers, optics and other systems into a form factor small enough for a soldier to wear, Fatemi said.

Air Force Exploring GPS-Free Navigation

The Air Force is also working on chip-scale atomic clocks for navigation systems, said Michael Hayduk, associate director of the Information and Spectrum Warfare Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory.

A major goal for the Air Force and the other services is to use chip-scale atomic clocks to provide a backup navigation capability if adversaries jam Global Positioning System signals.

This is important because almost all current Air Force systems rely on GPS-enabled navigation to some extent, Hayduk said. Additionally, the service is looking at developing highly sensitive quantum-based sensors such as magnetometers for applications such as medical monitoring equipment.

The Need for Quantum Standards

One challenge facing nascent quantum technologies is the lack of standards for things like measurements, said James Kushmerick, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Physical Measurement Laboratory. He noted that NIST has released several post-quantum cryptography standards that organizations will need to adopt.

“From a quantum technology standpoint, there’s a need for thinking about standards, but we’re not there yet,” he said, adding that none of the technologies under development are mature enough to define things such as a standard qubit.

However, Kushmerick added that NIST and other bodies are working on terminology “so that when we get to a standard, we have it.” Pre-standardization work is underway between NIST and international national metrology institutes to lay the groundwork for a global set of standards to enable and accelerate the development of quantum technologies, he said.

Funding and Other Hurdles

One of the ongoing challenges for quantum research is continuity of funding, said Hayduk. While the Trump administration has increasingly prioritized quantum research, Pentagon departments like the Air Force have competing research areas such as hypersonics and microelectronics.

Sustained funding allows agencies to develop and mature technologies. Hayduk noted that AFRL is looking into scaling the production of quantum systems such as navigation tools. This would permit faster and more affordable deployments across the service, he said.

Another challenge is finding sources for component technologies, said Adam Black, director of the Naval Research Laboratory’s Quantum Science Institute. Like other services, the Navy seeks out reliable, U.S.-sourced systems for its components with the goal of finding dual-use technologies that are inexpensive enough to have a large private-sector market.

One of the bright areas of quantum computing technologies is the large amount of private investment, Black said.

“The government has not had to be the primary funder of quantum computing technology over the last several years,” Black said.

But he added that there are applications that do not yet have a large private-sector market, and some of these are very necessary applications for DOW, such as navigation systems.

“We need them even if the projected market is very small,” said Black.