Focus areas
Quantum sensing
SRI is focused on developing state-of-art quantum-enabled sensors in small form factors to enable stand-off sensing, imaging and PNT applications.
- Matter-wave rotation sensors: A novel guided matter-wave interferometry within a chip-based optical trap, leading to matter-wave-based rotation sensing while operating on a dynamic platform. SRI is executing a long-term plan for a high-performance gyro.
- Chip-scale cold-atom platforms: Flexible, small (toward cubic-cm) platforms for high-precision measurements, utilizing SRI’s patented magnet-free mini-vacuum-pump technology.
- Atom-based RF electrometry: Based on deep Rydberg-atom-physics expertise, these sensors exhibit extremely wide tunable bandwidth (MHz-THz) which provides high-sensitivity sensing in a small footprint (sub RF-wavelength). Such technology is scalable to applications requiring sensor arrays.
- Atom-based magnetometry: Applicable to magnetic signatures, including bio-magnetic, anomaly detection and proximity sensing.
Quantum networking
The next 20 years will see a thrust toward the need to network quantum-enabled sensing nodes. SRI is building and demonstrating expertise in:
- Entangled-network components
- Entangled-photon generation techniques
- Quantum sensors networked with both quantum and classical technologies
- Developing new concepts of operation for distributed, networked, quantum sensors
QED-C (Quantum Economic Development Consortium)
The Quantum Economic Development Consortium’s mission is to enable and grow a robust commercial quantum-based industry and associated supply chain in the United States. The QED-C is developing the roadmap and laying the groundwork for the future quantum workforce and helping build a thriving quantum economy.
QED-C has support from multiple agencies and a diverse set of industry, academic and other stakeholders. QED-C participants are working together to identify gaps in technology, standards and the workforce and to address those gaps through collaboration.
Our work
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Quantum computing needs more public-private collaboration says QED-C
QED-C’s new report calls for increased gov-commercial collaboration and offers recommendations for pursuing more public-private partnerships
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Quantum Technology Manufacturing Roadmap
This roadmap effort, led by SRI International and its team of industry, national lab and academic partners, will identify pre-competitive development work and supply chain gaps to support scaling up quantum technology and help maintain U.S. dominance in quantum-related fields, rather than focus on scientific discovery or a specific application.
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A closer look at the Quantum Technology Manufacturing Roadmap effort
SRI’s Navin Lingaraju and QED-C’s Celia Merzbacher explain the roadmap and the job ahead
SRI International’s blend of government and internal funding creates opportunities to research and develop innovative quantum technologies that solve important problems in a variety of fields. SRI’s proven ability to produce marketable products from our research will result in new quantum technologies entering the marketplace.
For over two decades, SRI has been developing precision quantum sensors to enable next-generation sensing and communications systems, from chip-scale clocks to cold-atom based sensor systems, including developing the sophisticated integration technology required to move these sensors out of the lab.
Today, SRI is rapidly expanding its quantum capabilities into several interconnected focus areas to solve problems in sensing and communications, as well as ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) and PNT (position, navigation and timing). SRI is doing this by leveraging its unique mix of deep expertise across both quantum and modern classical research areas to find new ways to apply quantum solutions to outstanding R&D problems.
SRI is also proud to be the co-leader of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), positioning the institute at the forefront of the quantum community.
Associated team
Associated publications
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Quantum Optimization Heuristics with an Application to Knapsack Problems
This paper introduces two techniques that make the standard Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) more suitable for constrained optimization problems.
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Portable Magnetometry for Detection of Biomagnetism in Ambient Environments
This paper presents a method of optical magnetometry with parts-per-billion resolution that is able to detect biomagnetic signals generated from the human brain and heart in Earth’s ambient environment. The magnetically silent sensors measure the total magnetic field by detecting the free-precession frequency in a highly spin-polarized alkali-metal vapor. A first-order gradiometer is formed from two magnetometers that are separated by a 3-cm baseline. The gradiometer operates from a laptop consuming 5 W over a USB port, enabled by state-of-the-art microfabricated alkali-vapor cells, advanced thermal insulation, custom electronics, and compact lasers within the sensor head. The gradiometer has a sensitivity of 16 fT/cm/Hz1/2 outdoors, which we use to detect neuronal electrical currents and magnetic cardiography signals. Recording of neuronal magnetic fields is one of a few available methods for noninvasive functional brain imaging that usually requires extensive magnetic shielding and other infrastructure. This work demonstrates the possibility of a dense array of portable biomagnetic sensors that are deployable in a variety of natural environments.
