C: Quantum-Enhanced Inertial Measurement Unit (QEIMU)

NSF融合加速器计划支持以使用为灵感、以团队为基础的多学科努力，以应对具有国家重要性的挑战，并将在不久的将来产生对社会有价值的成果。目前的高精度惯性传感器体积庞大且令人望而却步，阻碍了广泛的影响，例如用于自动驾驶汽车、可穿戴医疗设备以及在没有GPS的环境中的安全导航。该项目的目标是开发功能强大的惯性传感模块和控制单元，并汇聚到一个完全集成的量子增强型惯性测量单元(QEIMU)原型上，作为项目结束交付的成果。该项目的智力优势在于开发了一个多层氮化硅平台，团队成员将在该平台上制造和组装量子光源、陀螺仪和加速计。QEIMU原型将改善陀螺仪和加速计的关键性能指标，包括角度随机游走(ARW)、灵敏度和偏差一到两个数量级，同时具有低成本、紧凑、通向大规模生产的明确途径和坚固耐用。这些独特的功能将使QEIMU广泛和容易地用于自动驾驶汽车、航空航天导航和手持传感设备以及空间和国防应用的商业市场，从而在5-10年内产生短期和深远的社会影响。QEIMU模块预计将安装在1)自动驾驶车辆上，以实现无GPS信号的安全导航；2)移动设备作为补充的精确室内定位技术；以及3)用于医疗诊断、家庭监控、辅助生活和体育相关应用的活动识别系统。该项目将对惯性传感器市场及其在许多目前尚未开发的市场中的采用产生更广泛的影响。这也将对量子技术中代表性不足的群体的参与度和教育产生影响。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The NSF Convergence Accelerator program supports use-inspired, team-based, multidisciplinary efforts that address challenges of national importance and will produce deliverables of value to society in the near future. Current high-precision inertial sensors are bulky and prohibitive, holding back a wide impact, e.g., for self-driving cars, wearable healthcare devices, and secure navigation in GPS-denied environment.The goal of this project is to develop the functional inertial sensing modules and control units and converge on a fully integrated quantum-enhanced inertial measurement unit (QEIMU) prototype as the end- of-project deliverable. The intellectual merit of this project is in developing a multilayer silicon nitride platform on which team members will fabricate and assemble quantum-light sources, gyroscopes, and accelerometers.The QEIMU prototype will improve key performance metrics for gyroscopes and accelerometers, including the angle random walk (ARW), sensitivity, and bias by one-to-two orders of magnitude and, at the same time, enjoy low cost, compactness, a clear pathway to mass productivity, and robustness. Such unique features will make the QEIMU widely and readily available for the commercial markets of self-driving cars, aerospace navigation, and handheld sensing devices as well as space and defense-oriented applications, thereby creating near-term and profound societal impacts within 5-10 years.The QEIMU module is envisaged to be installed on 1) autonomous vehicles for secure navigation without GPS signals; 2) mobile devices as a complementary precise indoor positioning technique; and 3) activity recognition systems for medical diagnostics, home monitoring, assisted living, and sport-related applications. The broader impact of this project will be on inertial sensors market and their adoption in many markets that are currently untapped. The impact will also be on engagement and education of underrepresented groups in quantum technology. "This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.