Public Funding for Aquark Technologies Limited

Aquark Technologies is a cutting-edge start-up in quantum technologies that promises to radically enhance our ability to sense, measure and compute on a mass-market scale. Aquark aims to create a break-through system to capture, manipulate, and exploit the quantum characteristics of atoms by way of a low-cost, matchbox-sized, low-power module based on ultra-cold atoms which employs a novel geometry that enables the cooling and manipulation of atoms without the need for a magnetic field. Using cold atoms as a basis for sensing, measuring, and computing enables an exponential and instantaneous increase in performance when compared with the current state of the art. A foundational capability within not only quantum technologies for sensing and timing, but many laser applications more widely, is the use of narrow linewidth, wavelength stabilised lasers, as these are the method by which clouds of ultra-cold atoms are formed, prepared, and measured. Part of this stabilisation process involves a system that allows for the comparison of the real-time laser wavelength against the atomic features of importance within the same atoms that form the heart of the quantum sensor. This functionality has been modularised, miniaturised and developed into a proof of principle component -- AQurate. AQurate sees Aquark partnering with another world leader, NKT Photonics, to develop a spectroscopy module that facilitates the application of existing and future NKT products to far broader markets and applications. In parallel, this work will also form part of the accelerated development of miniaturised and ruggedised cold matter systems, as the AQurate module constitutes one of the key miniaturisation pathways on the way towards bringing quantum sensing out of the lab and into everyday use.

Aquark Technologies is a cutting-edge start-up in quantum technologies that will radically enhance our ability to sense, measure and compute on a mass-market scale. We have created a game-changing system to capture, manipulate, and exploit the quantum characteristics of atoms by way of a low-cost, low-power module based on ultra-cold atoms. Using cold atoms as a basis for position, navigation and timing enables both a step change in performance and autonomy when compared with existing state of the art. However, the required components of cold-atom traps to-date have rendered them too complex, large and power-intensive for meaningful real-world use, and therefore limited in their application. Aquark has successfully overcome this major limitation by miniaturising our cold-atom engine. This miniaturisation offers us the opportunity to be first-to-market with portable, scalable quantum devices for use across sectors. Ultimately, we aim to enable mass-scale implementation of highly precise sensors and clocks, GPS-independent inertial navigation, and quantum computing, delivering against UK government priorities and urgent international need for non-GNSS alternatives as well as augmenting existing systems for increase in performance and reliability. Our first product and vital demonstrator for our cold-atom engine is a quantum clock, the AQlock, which will enable us to commercialise and expand rapidly into new verticals. During a previous Innovate UK-funded project, we successfully proved feasibility of this technology, including technical demonstration of an open-loop clock signal. This project now aims to transition the AQlock to commercial readiness, including extensive lab and live-environment testing. As part of the project, we will confirm and stress-test two supply chains (bespoke UK-based and commercial off-the-shelf, including international suppliers) to finalise a single, robust supply chain that can successfully scale manufacture of the AQlock ready for wide deployment. At all stages we will prioritise UK manufacturers and suppliers, falling back on international alternatives only when we are unable to secure necessary resources or expertise within the UK due complexity of the cold-atom engine and the AQlock. The AQlock is designed to integrate into existing systems as an accompaniment or augmentation to GNSS-enabled technology. Initial target sectors include telecoms, defence, finance and aviation, with committed end-users informing the scope of technical development. Delivery of the AQlock will open up quantum-enabled systems for global PNT, and simultaneously establish an underpinning UK-prioritised supply chain for quantum sensing vectors, providing the opportunity for wholesale transition away from GNSS dependency and replacing vulnerable systems with UK-grown quantum technology

The ability to distinguish gravitational signatures is of great value to anyone looking to either explore for new material resources or monitor existing ones, as this can be done without need to physically dig it up or bring measurement instruments directly to the source. The greater the ability to distinguish gravity and the more measurements that can be taken, the better the available data will become and the ultimate value that is derived from it. The size of opportunity that quantum based gravity measurements present is significant, but so too are the challenges in doing it. For the last decades, researchers across the world have strived towards enabling better control of the physics that govern these systems and, while it has enabled unprecedented sensitivity, the fragility and cost of such systems has resulted in limited commercial use. Through this project, the intention is to correct this by combining the world leading expertise in quantum gravity measurements from the University of Birmingham with the low cost, small size and simplified cold atom trap design of Aquark Technologies. This approach has never been explored before due to the only recent discovery of magnetic free cold atom traps by Aquark Technologies. The combination of Aquark Technologies and the University of Birmingham offers exciting new ways of putting together quantum gravity measurement systems, and specifically, this project looks to explore the concept of using a single high performance interrogator and multiple sensor heads. To date, no attempt to achieve this goal has been undertaken as often sensors and systems have to be co-designed due to the bespoke nature of their operation. If successful in demonstrating the feasibility of combining the systems and knowhow, the potential to unlock more high quality gravity data, at a much lower cost, is within reach. The result of this will lead to less environmental disruption for all as a better monitoring of what is underground can be determined, without the need for excavation. Examples of where quantum gravity sensors could make a significant difference include; monitoring of volcanoes leading to improved warning times, potentially saving hundreds of lives each year; better monitoring of groundwater could lead to better understanding and use of this resource preventing droughts and floods and improved monitoring at carbon storage sites could lead to improved efficiency and help us combat climate change.

It is often a leap in efficiency that brings innovative ideas from drawings on paper to the items of everyday life. Quantum technology offers completely new ways of measuring our environment and performing computations, but inefficiencies in these systems limit their widespread use. Furthermore, controlling and measuring the properties of individual atoms, the basis that quantum technology is built upon, is exceptionally difficult to perform. It is only recently that technology allowing this has come about, and while researchers have focused on improving control and measurement techniques, work in making it more efficient has been left relatively unexplored. Aquark Technologies mission is to enable smaller, lighter and more efficient quantum devices such that this technology can begin to serve everyone, rather than stay confined to laboratories. Based on more than 10 years of research at the University of Southampton, Aquark Technologies looks to use its unique knowledge of fabrication and systems construction to create a quantum "engine" capable of making measurements of time, gravity, magnetic fields, radio waves and acceleration. Aquark Technologies have identified and patented a unique breakthrough that allows a more efficient design. Elimination of a third of a conventional systems components is achieved by omitting the magnetic fields ubiquitously required at the very core of the system. The significance of this breakthrough not only defies current conventional systems, it generates pathways for radically different designs that will bring leaps in efficiency when considering the size, weight and power required. This project sets out to explore what a high performance atomic clock based on this breakthrough may offer and enable opportunities for use in previously inaccessible markets such as inertial navigation, telecommunication synchronisation, financial transactions and electric grid monitoring. Demonstrating the value of an atomic clock based on Aquark Technologies quantum "engine" will serve as an example for what is possible for other sensor types and markets, thereby paving the way for further future research and investment into this British made innovation.