(LabmateOnline) Aquark Technolgies’ has launched its cold atom chamber, after securing the investment funding that has enabled the successful spin-out of the company from Southampton University.
Cold atom chambers provide the space in which quantum devices can tap into and manipulate the wave-like properties of atoms and tiny changes in their energy levels. Former Southampton PhD students Dr Andrei Dragomir and Dr Alexander Jantzen, have developed the Aquark cube, a design which has miniaturised the cold atom chamber by a factor of 100 into a simple, portable plug-and-play system.
“Quantum technology has for many years offered increased performance over conventional technology, but it has been complicated to achieve and so applications have been limited. Mostly the tech has stayed hidden in research labs around the world; we want to make cold-atoms practical and accessible for wider use,” said Romanian-born Andrei.
“By controlling a cloud of atoms at a temperature near absolute zero we can take extremely precise measurements for time, acceleration, gravity and rotation. As such, using this technology we could, for example, create a global navigation system that is accurate without a satellite connection.”
Aquark Technologies results from the research completed at the School of Physics and Astronomy in the Quantum, Light and Matter group.