Quantum Fibre Clock (QFC)

从两个主要出版物中可以清楚地看到量子创新的证据--政府科学办公室发表的关于‘量子时代：技术机遇’的英国布莱克特报告和欧盟报告‘量子宣言’。这些都解决了量子技术日益增长的重要性，特别是对未来原子钟的发展。原子钟提供无与伦比的精度和稳定性，而不需要依赖GPS。目前，国防、广播和金融行业的许多应用程序都容易受到GPS系统本身的干扰、欺骗或错误。量子光纤钟(QFC)项目将使用填充铯蒸气的空芯光纤来生产一种比现有技术更小、更轻、更高效的原子钟。QFC将利用英国的势头保持领先地位，并使英国在市场上获得竞争优势。该项目将研究由巴斯大学与TMD Technologies Ltd合作发明并进行的空芯光纤量子研究的演变，并由SME Chronos Technology Ltd牵头。之前的研究集中在制造高效的空芯光纤体系结构、填充Rb蒸气来创建物理封装以及开发接口电子设备以实现10 MHz和1ps的稳定性测试。该项目将集中在空芯光纤中填充铯，以及随后创建工作原型时钟和少量演示程序。这些将被用来告诉潜在用户该技术是可行的，并使其能够在适当的应用和环境条件下进行测试，如温度、压力、冲击和振动。“

"There is clear evidence of Quantum innovation from two key publications -- The UK Blackett report published by the Government Office for Science on 'The Quantum Age: Technological Opportunities' and the EU Report 'Quantum Manifesto'. These both address the growing importance of quantum technology and in particular for the development of future atomic clocks.Atomic clocks offer unparalleled accuracy and stability without dependence on GPS. At present, many applications in the defence, broadcast and financial industries are vulnerable to jamming, spoofing or errors in the GPS system itself. The Quantum Fibre Clock (QFC) project will use hollow-core optical fibre filled with caesium vapour to produce an atomic clock which is smaller, lighter and more efficient than existing technologies. QFC will capitalise on UK momentum to stay ahead and give the UK a competitive advantage in the market place.The project will research the evolution of the hollow core fibre quantum research invented and undertaken by University of Bath in partnership with TMD Technologies Ltd and led by SME Chronos Technology Ltd. The previous research has concentrated on manufacturing an efficient hollow core fibre architecture, filling with rubidium vapour to create the physics package and developing the interface electronics to enable stability testing at 10 MHz and 1PPS.This project will concentrate on the filling of the hollow core fibre with caesium, and subsequent creation of a working prototype clock and a small quantity of demonstrators. These will be used to inform prospective users that the technology is viable and enable testing in appropriate applications and environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure, shock and vibration."