(MilitaryAerospace) Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., announced a $5.5 million contract to Honeywell on Thursday for the Quantum Apertures project.
Quantum sensing uses properties of quantum mechanics, such as quantum entanglement, quantum interference, and quantum state squeezing that have optimized for precision and beat current limits in sensor technology and evade the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
Honeywell will help develop an RF and microwave receiver that is portable, programmable over a very large frequency range, and more sensitive than what classical systems can achieve at similar sizes and temperatures.
The goals are to improve sensor sensitivity in a small sensor; develop a continuous, fast, and broad frequency tuning capability; and develop individually addressable element arrays for detecting signal angle of arrival and channel parallelization for enhanced sensitivity or instantaneous bandwidth.
The Quantum Apertures program has two technical areas: one that focuses on the receiver system and its application for military needs; and a focus on the sensor element itself.