Photonics Technologies Get Quantum Project Support in UK and Israel

(Optics.org) This extensive article is a review of photonics companies in the UK and Israel that have recently landed additional funding for the development of quantum technology applications.
In the UK, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) last week announced that 38 new quantum-related projects were to share £70 million of support.
Among the photonics companies in the UK to win support in the latest round is the University of Bristol spin-out QLM Tech. Short for Quantum Light Metrology, QLM is developing compact, high-sensitivity, low-power lidar systems for gas detection and imaging that are based around detection of single infrared photons.
Lasers – and narrow-linewidth sources in particular – are critical to several of the emerging quantum technology applications that the UK funding is intended to help become commercialized. M-Squared has been a major beneficiary. It is involved in two recently funded projects, namely development of an optical lattice clock based around laser-cooled strontium atoms, and a field-ready gravimeter to identify hidden underground hazards.
While full details of all 38 new projects are not yet available, Edinburgh-based UnikLasers has been involved in several earlier efforts supported by the UK’s quantum technology development program.
In Israel, the nonlinear materials specialist Raicol Crystals is now collaborating with California-based Qubitekk on quantum key distribution (QKD) technology for applications in high-security communication.