Public Funding for Kelvin Nanotechnology Limited

Thales UK, Kelvin Nanotechnology, Sentinel Photonics and University of Glasgow have partnered to develop the technologies for the next generation of world class remote sensing equipment. The team will investigate several fundamental technological building blocks, from uncooled Infra-Red detectors to novel edge processed high definition imagers and the latest laser sensing techniques. The consortium is proud to be able to match fund the Innovate UK seed funding to get the team moving on the Next Generation Remote Sensing Roadmap. If successful, the follow on investment will be significant, opening up dozens of skilled STEM jobs and apprenticeships needed to tackle a significant domestic and international market size that will see Govan and Glasgow local supply chain prosper for years to come.

This is a feasibility project concerned with developing the next generation GaN laser sources for quantum applications. The GaN laser devices will be co-packaged with passive waveguide structures to provide single frequency operation or other functionality such as wavelength referencing ands locking. The consortium consists of Kelvin Nanotechnology, TGQT, Alter, University of Glasgow and Fraunhofer-CAP.

Quantum technologies takes advantage of the strange world of quantum mechanics where, for example, objects can exist in two places at once. This world typically occurs on the atomic level at low temperatures which has meant that technologies that exploit these properties have been challenging to implement and manufacture. Diamond is quickly becoming a leading quantum material due to the unique way quantum properties of impurities imbedded in diamonds crystal lattice can be controlled simply by the application of light. What is even more amazing is that, unlike other materials that require specialist cryogenic cooling, these quantum properties persist at room temperature making it possible to be widely deployable. These 'quantum defects' have the potential to be used for a range of applications such as measuring the magnetic fields emitted from molecules, enabling key understanding of the molecules composition for development of new medication. It also has the potential to detect different types of proteins which can provide information about the processes occurring in your body and allow the diagnosis of early diseases. Lastly it has applications in quantum computing which has the potential to solve problems no current computer can. Critical to the development of these technologies is to have the 'quantum defects' close to the surface of the diamond but retaining their unique quantum properties. This projects objective is develop a process to create near-surface quantum defects and therefore allow the further development of these revolutionary technologies.

Quantum technologies are at an inflection point in technology readiness that will change the way we live, do business, and even how scientific research is conducted. Globally $2.2B are being invested every year to progress this technology. The United Kingdom has been at the forefront of developing the science and is home to world-leading experts in the manufacturing and validation of quantum technology and to world-class commercial partners across the whole supply chain from production to integration and measurement. However, the ecosystem for robust fab-ready processing of these novel devices and circuits needs further development. This project addresses this gap by leveraging links between recognized academic institutions in quantum science and engineering, industry leaders, and emerging commercial efforts in quantum computing and sensing with an aim to drive this technology towards higher readiness levels. The quantum technology platform that will be addressed in this consortium on the UK side are atomic layer deposited films for superconducting and hybrid quantum systems. These films are integrated in quantum circuits and thereby form the basis for high-coherent devices exploration academically and commercially. A second platform, albeit smaller on the UK side, are diamond NV centres to be harnessed for quantum sensing applications by the Canadian partners. Fabrication processes for manufacturing of these devices will be developed and optimized with characterization feedback using quantum technology figures of merit to ensure these materials are strongly tailored to function efficiently in quantum computers, simulators, networks, and sensors. Altogether, this project will provide an advanced manufacturing toolkit readily available for commercial exploitation by the industry partners (SMEs and startups) and new discovery means for the academic institutions.

Advanced production capabilities have allowed conventional electronics based on semiconductors to become more powerful and support almost all technologies we use today, from laptops to washing machines and cutting edge medical equipment. But semiconductors are now facing hard limits as the miniaturisation of components reaches closer to the atomic scale. The limitations of these classical circuits can be overcome with quantum circuits, which utilise all the tricks of nature to open up areas in sensing, security and information processing technology that previously remained elusive. One of the most successful ways of building these quantum circuits is with superconductors, which can be built with many of the tools already used for conventional electronics and allow for a large degree of customisation to be applied to almost any area within quantum technology. Building these superconducting circuits is currently a challenging feat, requiring close to atomic level accuracy of circuit writing and total isolation from any radiation, contamination and defects that would otherwise disturb the delicate quantum state of these circuits. Furthemore, accessing cryogenic equipment and state-of-the-art electronics for verification also presents a significant up-front investment. The capacity to produce these circuits is therefore confined to academic and national labs, and a very small number of secretive commercial ventures. Whilst there are many potential business opportunities ready to be exploited in this space, the superconducting circuits' production challenges present a large barrier to entry to most companies in the UK. They simply do not have the resources available to catch-up and compete with commercially available solutions. Fortunately, the UK is home to world-leading experts in the manufacture and validation of high quality superconducting circuits, and to world-class commercial partners across the whole supply chain from production to integration and measurement. Together we are bringing the capability to produce superconducting circuits at commercial scale and quality, for a nascent quantum economy that is about to rapidly expand. To provide lower barriers to entry and empower UK-based ventures, we will develop R&D centres for businesses, as well as foundries for the purchase of superconducting devices and access to testing equipment. This unique extra capability will empower the UK as a hub for technology based on superconducting circuits, bringing in jobs and investment, and delivering a domestic supply of a technology with many strategic benefits.

The UK has world leading capability in scalable, high fidelity qubit generation for quantum computing, with two particularly compelling approaches being neutral atoms and ion microtraps. These technologies, however, remain at low TRL because a viable commercialisation approach requires the provision of test beds available to the UK community, and test beds are unavailable owing to two technology barriers -- qubit scalability and fidelity. Providing these test beds requires inter-disciplinary expertise beyond any one company. Our vision for this project is to bring together a such world-leading multidisciplinary consortium of UK industry and academic partners -- the only group capable of overcoming the two barriers and creating a globally leading industry for commercial quantum computing and simulation hardware. The programme will show a transition from fundamental, academic TRL activity to scalable, commercial deployments of cold matter quantum information systems; overcoming the fidelity and scalability barriers via advancement of system manufacturability including microfabrication and vacuum hardware; development of the photonics backbone including advanced lasers for state preparation, qubit control and readout, requiring high levels of optical power, stability and noise suppression; and the design and delivery of electronics and control systems, including modular electronics and advanced control and sequencing hardware. The key objectives in overcoming the barriers as described above is to bring the technology to a level where pragmatic test bed facilities for the benefit of the quantum community can be realised. Commercially, by establishing the potential scalability of the technology the consortium will establish a supply chain cluster, evidencing the potential impact, and producing a roadmap to industrial production. The partners have extensive experience in the sector and can already demonstrate commercial deployment of relevant technologies across the global market for quantum information systems. Furthermore, the planned work can be expected to dovetail with existing national quantum computing infrastructure, to realise coordinated growth of the UK quantum computing sector for the wider benefit of UK plc, and trigger significant additional investment outside the project funding.

_It is anticipated that 50% of vehicle production will be wholly or partially electric by 2030\. This project aims to commercialise known quantum technology to address identified challenges in the manufacture of batteries and lithium cells. Quantum technology enables highly sensitive measurements of magnetic fields. This project will use these magnetic measurements to diagnose current flows in lithium cells and the consortium will develop a complete environmentally controlled ageing test production system deployed at the largest commercial powder to power lithium-ion and sodium-ion manufacturing plant in the UK (project lead: AGM). The system will be integrated into AGM's pouch cell assembly and test processes trialled on the range of High, Ultra High power, High Energy and Sodium-ion cells currently being scaled-up and commercialised for UK niche automotive market in particular._ _Having gained global acclaim for best-in-class ICE's, Cosworth are perfect examples of what's best about the UK's high-performance automotive developers. Now they are seeking to build equally successful electric drive trains and only power cells of the very highest quality will suffice. The project is fortunate to have Cosworth as an active partner taking advantage of the Quantum Sensor technology ability to select A-Grade cells for the best hybrid battery performance and good lifetime state-of-health. The technology adds strength to 2nd life use of cells viability due to better SoH confidence through 1st life._ _In the next few years, the UK-BIC (Battery Industrialisation Centre) will be opened. This will be closely followed by AGM's parent company's AMTE GigaFactory which will be capable of manufacturing millions of cells in the UK every year. Like all cell manufacturers, AGM will be burdened with the bottleneck of cell formation and ageing processes. This project aims to significantly reduce this impact and also improve quality yields providing the ability to grade cells effectively. This could prove massively beneficial to the fledgling industry providing a competitive edge enabling AGM to take market share earlier._

Precision timing is key to all aspects of modern infrastructure, from the national grid, to telecommunications, to financial trading, through to global, national, and individual navigation systems. In most cases this timing is received wirelessly through global navigation satellite systems, commonly known as "sat-nav" or GPS. However, these signals do not have guaranteed security, either through their ownership (the GPS system is run by the US Air Force) or due to the vulnerability of the wireless signal to hacking or jamming. There is an urgent need for a UK source of clocks to protect core infrastructure. Additionally, the development of a step-change in the accuracy and stability of timing and frequency sources will drive new technologies, including faster telecoms and ever more secure communication protocols, precision navigation for autonomous transport networks and earth observation techniques to monitor climate change.This project brings a team of leading UK universities with many decades expertise in atomic physics together with industry leaders specialising in nanofabrication and optical systems engineering to deliver a world leading miniature optical system for atom cooling. This innovative approach will generate a source of ultra-cold strontium atoms suitable to deliver highly accurate time referenced to atomic standards. Ultimately, this technology could be employed in a fully isolated clock that is capable of providing a GNSS-surpassing timing standard at the heart of future autonomous vehicles and critical infrastructure networks.

The project aims to deliver a miniature, integrated magneto optical trap (MOT) chamber for use in portable cold atom technologies and markets. Kelvin Nanotechnology, TMD Technologies and the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow have teamed up to create a universal miniature cold atom trap device for deployable atomic based quantum technologies that will build on key processes developed by the partners. These processes include diffractive optics design and fabrication, innovative bonding and sealing methods, physics package encapsulation, complex alkali metal vapour filling techniques and performance evaluation methodologies. Integrating these individual technologies into a highly functional and low cost system will enable rigorous testing and qualification by industrial users for deployment in next generation quantum technology systems in a wide variety of applications and markets.

The market for handheld and portable Raman spectrometers is rapidly growing (10% CAGR) whilst progress is being made towards the development of methods to overcome the background fluorescence that has traditionally held the method back. M Squared have developed a handheld Raman spectrometer for the authentication of whisky, and are adapting this technology for healthcare applications based on proprietary background subtraction techniques. Handheld spectrometers require high performance with enough power and spectral purity to allow accurate species identification, whilst being compact, robust and low cost. At present high precision laser sources used for high resolution spectroscopy have external cavities which are bulky limiting their use in the field. During this project the consortium will develop power scaled lasers based on innovative processes that make use of the unique qualities of compound semiconductors to deliver improved light intensity. The power scaled laser will be low cost and rugged, and able to provide high precision analysis for handheld spectrometry. The enabling of high precision handheld spectrometry will enable applications in precision medicine, as well as quality monitoring in the food & drink industry.

The project aims to deliver an integrated distributed feedback laser as a key component in cold atom technologies. The partners will build on extensive expertise in microfabrication, packaging, electronics and application development to produce a highly functional yet low-cost and compact laser device suitable for use in a wide range of cold atom technologies. The project brings together three innovative Scottish companies, M Squared Lasers, Optocap and Kelvin Nanotechnology, with the Universities of Glasgow and Birmingham and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

Chip-scale technology is necessary for atomic quantum devices of significantly reduced form factor. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has demonstrated a microchip device for the confinement of atomic ions. Its unique set of performance characteristics, together with the scalable fabrication techniques used to produce it, render it an excellent platform for an elementary component in atomic quantum technologies. Clocks, sensors and scalable superpositions and entanglement will benefit. NPL will conduct ion trapping performance tests on devices produced in an earlier IUK Study. Kelvin Nanotechnology will enhance the existing full-wafer scale microfabrication process to produce ion microtraps with ~90% target yield. Optocap will develop the principles for a custom electronic package, to enable ample connectivity for these and more complex devices in the future. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt worldwide at this principle for ion microchip devices. This points the way towards the integration of these devices in atomic quantum instruments.

Chip-scale technology is necessary for atomic quantum devices of significantly reduced form factor. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has demonstrated a prototype microchip device for the confinement of atomic ions. Its unique set of performance characteristics, together with the scalable fabrication techniques used to produce it, render it an excellent platform for an elementary component in atomic quantum technologies. Clocks, sensors and scalable superpositions and entanglement will benefit. Kelvin Nanotechnology will work with NPL to develop aspects of the microfabrication process so that trap chips can be made at a full-wafer scale, thus demonstrating the principle and feasibility of a high-throughput manufacturing process. Optocap will work with NPL to develop an automated electronic packaging process for the microchips. Both aspects will demonstrate a route to niche-volume manufacturing and electronic packaging of ion chips. To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first attempt worldwide to show this principle for ion microchip devices. This points the way towards the integration of these devices in atomic quantum instruments.

Miniaturised, portable chip-scale clocks and sensors are regarded as central priorities for future sensors, navigation and secure communication systems. The Royal Academy of Engineering has highlighted the vulnerability of global navigation satellite systems and recommends that all critical infrastructures relying on accurate time measurements should have a robust holdover alternative technology. This project addresses one of the key components in achieving this goal by implementing DFB laser and PPLN technology developed for consumer applications to produce a cost effective, miniature laser technology platform for achieving short wavelength sources for use in quantum systems and sensors. By utilising technology developed for picoprojector, head up display and near eye display applications we will achieve a step change in laser technologies for quantum applications resulting in a 10e5 reduction in form factor. The vision of this project is to demonstate a scaleable, commercially viable technological approach to prodcuing laser sources for quantum applications building on the partners experience in applying these techniques for consumer applications.