UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensing and Timing

传感器和定时量子技术中心是由7所大学、国家物理实验室、英国地质调查局和工业界合作建立的，将为现实世界的应用带来颠覆性的新能力，对英国的经济和社会产生重大影响。QT传感器的独特特性将使地球物理学、医疗保健、授时应用和导航方面的突破性创新成为可能。我们建立的行业合作伙伴关系使我们的研究工作成为重点，使传感器能够根据每种应用的需求进行定制。总的长期经济影响可能达到GDP的10%左右。重力传感器可以看到地表以下，以识别埋在地下的结构，这些结构会给铁路基础设施、地陷洞、棕地开发等建设项目带来巨大成本。同样，它们可以识别石油资源和岩浆流。为了具有实用价值，重力传感器必须能够在具有挑战性的环境中进行快速测量。无人机等机载平台的操作将大大降低部署成本，并将无法到达的地点变为触手可及的范围。绘制痴呆症或精神分裂症患者的大脑活动图，特别是当他们能够四处走动并执行刺激大脑功能的任务时，将有助于早期诊断并加快新疗法的开发。现有的脑成像系统又大又笨重；在儿童身上使用它们尤其困难，因为更好地了解癫痫或脑损伤将带来巨大的好处。我们将开发的系统最初将用于在屏蔽房间中自由移动的患者，但最终将能够在不太专业的环境中运行。英国制造的新一代基于QT的磁力计将使这些进步成为可能。精确定时对许多我们习以为常的系统至关重要，包括通信和雷达。在现场可部署的套件中，超精密振荡器将使雷达系统能够识别目前难以探测的小型缓慢移动目标，如无人机，为机场和其他敏感地点带来更大的安全性。我们的世界高度依赖于精确的导航。虽然最初是为国防开发的，但我们的民用基础设施严重依赖GNSS。在地下、水下、建筑物内或卫星信号被故意干扰时，利用QT感应可以大大增强定位能力。增强惯性导航系统的鲁棒性和使用重力图匹配等新技术将缓解许多这些问题。为了实现这一切，我们将推动先进的物理研究，旨在实现小、低功耗的操作，并将其转化为工程封装，使系统在实际应用中具有无与伦比的能力。应用研究将发挥它们的能力，带来巨大的社会和经济效益。通过继续与一系列行业合作伙伴合作，我们将帮助建立一个完整的QT开发生态系统，具有全球影响力，但牢牢扎根于英国。这些目标只能通过结合科学家和工程师在广泛能力范围内的专业知识来实现。设计能够在具有挑战性的环境中部署的设备的能力需要物理、电子工程和材料科学的贡献。具有特定应用所需特征的系统设计需要土木和电子工程，神经科学以及供应链中广泛的利益相关者的理解。如果没有将原始数据转化为可操作信息的能力，传感器的输出几乎没有价值：这里需要数据分析和人工智能技能。该中心的研究活动旨在以协调的方式连接和发展这些技能，从而加速对我们经济的影响。

The Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Timing, a collaboration between 7 universities, NPL, BGS and industry, will bring disruptive new capability to real world applications with high economic and societal impact to the UK. The unique properties of QT sensors will enable radical innovations in Geophysics, Health Care, Timing Applications and Navigation. Our established industry partnerships bring a focus to our research work that enable sensors to be customised to the needs of each application. The total long term economic impact could amount to ~10% of GDP. Gravity sensors can see beneath the surface of the ground to identify buried structures that result in enormous cost to construction projects ranging from rail infrastructure, or sink holes, to brownfield site developments. Similarly they can identify oil resources and magma flows. To be of practical value, gravity sensors must be able to make rapid measurements in challenging environments. Operation from airborne platforms, such as drones, will greatly reduce the cost of deployment and bring inaccessible locations within reach. Mapping brain activity in patients with dementia or schizophrenia, particularly when they are able to move around and perform tasks which stimulate brain function, will help early diagnosis and speed the development of new treatments. Existing brain imaging systems are large and unwieldy; it is particularly difficult to use them with children where a better understanding of epilepsy or brain injury would be of enormous benefit. The systems we will develop will be used initially for patients moving freely in shielded rooms but will eventually be capable of operation in less specialised environments. A new generation of QT based magnetometers, manufactured in the UK, will enable these advances. Precision timing is essential to many systems that we take for granted, including communications and radar. Ultra-precise oscillators, in a field deployable package, will enable radar systems to identify small slow-moving targets such as drones which are currently difficult to detect, bringing greater safety to airports and other sensitive locations. Our world is highly dependent on precise navigation. Although originally developed for defence, our civil infrastructure is critically reliant on GNSS. The ability to fix one's location underground, underwater, inside buildings or when satellite signals are deliberately disrupted can be greatly enhanced using QT sensing. Making Inertial Navigation Systems more robust and using novel techniques such as gravity map matching will alleviate many of these problems. In order to achieve all this, we will drive advanced physics research aimed at small, low power operation and translate it into engineered packages to bring systems of unparalleled capability within the reach of practical applications. Applied research will bring out their ability to deliver huge societal and economic benefit. By continuing to work with a cohort of industry partners, we will help establish a complete ecosystem for QT exploitation, with global reach but firmly rooted in the UK. These goals can only be met by combining the expertise of scientists and engineers across a broad spectrum of capability. The ability to engineer devices that can be deployed in challenging environments requires contributions from physics electronic engineering and materials science. The design of systems that possess the necessary characteristics for specific applications requires understanding from civil and electronic engineering, neuroscience and a wide range of stakeholders in the supply chain. The outputs from a sensor is of little value without the ability to translate raw data into actionable information: data analysis and AI skills are needed here. The research activities of the hub are designed to connect and develop these skills in a coordinated fashion such that the impact on our economy is accelerated.