Sep 30 2020
UniKLasers Limited, the Edinburgh-based manufacturer of high-precision scientific laser instrumentation, has secured a £800K Project funded by Innovate UK, the National Research and Innovation Agency, to help spearhead the commercial development of applications based around Quantum Technology - the term used to describe an amalgam of instrumentation developed from quantum physics, R&D and precision electronics engineering.
Prof. Fedor Karpushko, Founder and Chief Technical Officer, UniKLasers
UniKLasers joins a consortium of 14 other industry and academic partners to accelerate the growth of commercialisation and collaboration efforts within the British quantum technology community. This Innovate UK project, with an overall value of £10m, is called ‘QT Assemble: Integrate Quantum Technology Programme’, and is led by Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd., based in Glasgow.
The programme will combine deeper expertise in the design, testing and manufacturing for Quantum Technology applications to further the understanding on how it could be applied to underpin industries such as financial services, defence and security measures and medical diagnostics. Other fields, such as magnetic and gravity sensors – where, for example, geological and seismic data can be assessed, will also be an important area of development.
“Quantum Technology is rife with exhilarating opportunities”, says Prof. Fedor Karpushko, Founder and Chief Technical Officer at UniKLasers. “This collaboration will enable us to conduct further research on integrating and embedding our DPSS miniaturised laser technology chiefly in areas of research and development around quantum sensors where the linewidth of the laser emission has the precision to allow cold atoms to move between quantum states.
“Being able to respond to gravitational pull of buried and hidden objects, locating natural resources or picking up magnetic fields from the human brain, quantum sensors can detect the tiniest signals around us. This, in terms of real-world applications, gives credence that quantum sensing could be game-changing. It is ultrasensitive to even the slightest variations of any environmental change, therefore its use in advancing the frontiers of medical research and disease detection, will have a hugely significant impact.”
UniKLasers offers every wavelength in Single Frequency regime that the market demands from compact and clean high-performance Diode Pumped Solid State Lasers (DPSSL) and this will be the key component within the Innovate UK programme over the 36-month project timescale.
In summary, Anastasia Bombrys comments;
“This is our fifth QT project funded by Innovate UK and the most exciting so far, because the realities and impact of Quantum Technologies is of such magnitude that even some of the scientists involved cannot yet fully explain how it will transform the world around us. All we know is that these changes will be profound.
“Overall, we have successfully completed three of these QT projects and the company is continuing its work as a partner in the two new consortium projects – Gravity Pioneer which is developing the first commercial Quantum Technology Gravimeter and now the QT Assemble consortium, in both - on developing single frequency DPSS laser as key components for quantum devices.
UniKLasers participation in these industry-leading British funding rounds helps define and accelerate our role in making the adoption of quantum technology a flagship industry in the UK. It will soon be embedded into all manners of products and services and we will provide a strong contribution to the consortium’s work to advance quantum technologies from the lab bench and into the hands of industry.”
The award of a £800,000 Project from Innovate UK follows a recent investment round by the Par Equity Syndicate supported by the Scottish Investment Bank which provided £750,000 financing to bring UniKLasers’ total funding since 2017 to £2.3 million.
The Innovate UK funded QT Assemble: Integrate Quantum Technology Programme began this month and lasts for three years.