QFC: Quantum Fibre Clock

有许多民用和军事应用需要精确的定时和计时。有相当大的兴趣是所谓的芯片级原子钟利用量子效应，具有1E-12顺序的简单热原子钟到1E-16顺序的光学晶格钟。紧凑型原子钟的应用非常广泛，包括：自主导航，如汽车、海上、航空、个人；2 .空间，例如微型卫星；3 .通信，例如蜂窝式系统、电信网络、军用无线电；QFC项目是对2014年英国量子技术展望（Pritchard & Till, 2014）中概述的挑战的直接回应。该项目是将新的量子时钟技术从研究实验室实验转变为工程解决方案的第一步。包括热原子、捕获单冷原子和捕获多冷原子物理在内的新型量子时钟技术是颠覆性创新。这种时钟将通过其提高的稳定性和潜在的尺寸、重量、功率和成本的减少，创造新的市场和应用。为了从新的量子科学创新中获益，现在需要进行工程创新。量子时钟物理的理解和行为已经在实验室的良好定义的范围内获得，使用通用设备。目前的挑战是开发出能够承受最终用户环境的强大物理封装，同时优化电子系统的性能、功率、质量、体积和成本。认识到新量子时钟的各种应用，QFC的方法包括许多创新以保持灵活性。任何应用程序都不可能有单一的最佳解决方案；人们可能希望拥有最好的性能（最高的稳定性）或最好的效率（最低的功率）。QFC将允许用户选择。目前还没有具备这种功能的商用时钟。

There are a multitude of both civilian and military applications needing precise timing and timekeeping. There is considerable interest is so-called chip-scale atomic clocks exploiting quantum effects and having stabilities of the order of 1E-12 for simple thermal atom clocks to 1E-16 in the case of optical lattice clocks. The applications of compact atomic clocks are vast and include:1. Autonomous navigation, e.g., automotive, maritime, aviation, personal;2. Space, e.g., micro satellites;3. Communications, e.g., cellular systems, telecommunications networks, military radio;4. Finance, e.g., high-frequency computer based trading, data securityThe QFC project is a direct response to the challenges outlined in the UK Quantum Technology Landscape 2014 (Pritchard & Till, 2014). The project is the first step towards transforming the new quantum clock technologies from research laboratory experiments into engineered solutions. The new quantum clock technologies, encompassing thermal atom, trapped single cold-atom and trapped multiple cold-atom physics are disruptive innovations. Such clocks will create new markets and applications through both their improved stability and also potential reduction in size, weight, power and cost.To reap the benefits of the new quantum science innovation, engineering innovation is now required. The understanding and behaviour of quantum clock physics has been obtained in the well-defined, benign confines of a laboratory, using general-purpose equipment. The challenge now is to develop robust physics packages able to withstand the end-user environment while optimising the electronic systems for performance, power, mass, volume and cost. Recognising the variety of applications for the new quantum clocks, the approach of QFC includes a number of innovations to maintain flexibility. There will likely not be a single optimum solution for any application; one may wish to have best performance (highest stability) or best efficiency (lowest power). QFC will allow the user to choose. There are no current commercial clocks with such capabilities.