Technical and Commercial Feasibility of Quantum Radar and Lidar

雷达和它的光学对应物激光雷达是成熟和广泛使用的技术。前者通常用于远距离探测，而激光雷达工作在可见光至近红外波长，在较短距离下提供更高的分辨率。随着量子技术的最新进展，我们现在可以研究在雷达和激光雷达系统中使用量子计量的可行性。虽然原理证明结果显示了利用量子探测和照明(例如纠缠光子)来提高雷达/激光雷达分辨率和灵敏度的可能性，但尚不清楚真正的系统是否真的能从这些成就中受益。这项研究将评估现有的量子技术是否足够成熟，或可能成熟，以提高雷达和激光雷达相对于经典最先进技术的性能，或者在降低尺寸/功耗的情况下实现相同的性能？这项研究将考虑用于现实情况的量子雷达/激光雷达方案和量子设备的最先进结果。这个答案将让人们了解量子雷达/激光雷达系统是否是一个有价值的商业开发项目，值得英国公司进一步研究和投资。

Radar and its optical counterpart, lidar, are well established and widely used technologies. The first is typically exploited for long-range detection, while lidar, operating at visible to near infrared wavelengths, offers improved resolution yet at a shorter distance. With the recent advances in quantum technologies, we can now investigate the feasibility of using quantum metrology in radar and lidar systems. While proof of principle results show the possibility to exploit quantum detection and illumination (e.g. entangled photons) to increase radar/lidar resolution and sensitivity, it is not clear yet if real systems can actually benefit from these achievements. This study will assess if the available quantum technology is mature enough, or is likely to mature, to increase the performance of radar and lidar with respect to the classical state-of-the-art, or achieve the same performances with reduced size/power consumption? This study will consider the most advanced results for quantum radar/lidar schemes and quantum devices for use in realistic situations. This answer will allow an understanding of whether quantum radar/lidar systems are a valuable commercial development worthy of further investigation and investment by UK companies.