From the lab to the market: pivoting the quantum technologies knowledge transfer
QuantumCAT is Catalonia’s quantum technology hub, aiming to connect research institutions and companies dedicated to quantum technologies.
QuantumCAT constitutes a knowledge and innovation node, with an industrial and social impact in the short and medium-term. It was launched with the goal of promoting, through innovative and disruptive applications, the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the industrial market.
Coordinated by ICREA Prof. at ICFO Morgan Mitchell, the hub consists of four scientific pillars; Communication, Sensing, Computing and Simulation. Each of these pillars has several research projects, each led by multidisciplinary teams of researchers from leading institutions and research centres in Catalonia.
Four pillars of knowledge transfer
The Quantum Communication pillar, led by ICREA Prof. at ICFO Hugues de Riedmatten, seeks the development of devices that are compatible with existing infrastructures to create a secure digital society and for the deployment of the future quantum internet. Through the projects Shannon, Quantum Memory and Continuous Key Distribution (DCC-VC), this research line addresses three essential aspects of quantum communication. Firstly, the fundamental limits associated with the limited use of quantum resources. Secondly, the development of the technology and architecture necessary for quantum repeaters. And finally, the improvement and sending of quantum bits over short distances.
The second pillar focuses on Quantum Sensing, specifically in the development of sensors with great accuracy. John Calsamiglia, professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), leads this pillar, which bases its research on the quantum nature of light and its interaction with matter. These sensors measure physical quantities such as frequency, acceleration, electric and magnetic fields or temperature as accurately as possible. This measurement capacity is applicable in a wide variety of uses, being the non-invasive diagnosis of diseases one of the most important fields of application. The two lines of research that make up the pillar seek to optimize and facilitate the use of atomic sensors for continuous monitoring. Besides, they intend to develop methods that allow the integration of ultra-precise atomic sensors in commercial health products, such as those that are used for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.
four research pillars integrated by several projects with multidisciplinary teams
The researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center Artur García leads the third pillar Quantum Computing, focused on software and hardware development to facilitate user access to data processing in the cloud. Quantum computers represent a new paradigm as they operate based on the physical laws of quantum and non-classical mechanics, implying the challenge of better understanding and exploiting the capabilities of these devices. The projects that are part of this line seek both to develop a platform for the simulation of high-performance quantum systems and to build chips – up to 25 qubits – that can perform variational quantum operations and annealing.
Finally, the pillar of Quantum Simulation will contribute innovative solutions to the field of artificial intelligence and quantum chemistry. Coordinated by the researcher at the Autonomous University of Barcelona Alessio Celi, this pillar aims to promote the technology of ultracold atoms quantum simulators. These simulators are quantum computers with a specific goal. Through the quantum advantage that ultracold atoms provide, they can solve complex problems that are unsolvable by current classical computers. This line of research searches to drive/push the transition from research to the industrial environment in the coming years, and at the same time drastically expand the community of end-users of quantum simulators.
The consortium
The QuantumCAT consortium is formed by ICFO, the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia· BarcelonaTech (UPC), the University of Barcelona (UB), the i2CAT Foundation, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2); and the Institute of High Energy Physics (IFAE) and the National Microelectronics Center (CNM) as collaborators.
“fast and smart followers”
It also includes different industrial players, such as Cellnex Telecom, Keysight Technologies, Quside Technologies, Grupo AIA, EVERIS, GMV, SatelIoT, KPMG, Zymvol and Qilimanjaro, in addition to SECPhO, the European photonics industrial cluster. Aware that the use of quantum technologies will become a standard in the near future, industrial players are betting on incorporating them little by little into their commercial supply chains. Similar to what is happening at a worldwide scale, they position themselves as “fast and smart followers”, selecting the technologies developed by research centres and universities and optimizing and making the most in their implementation. This approach allows them to introduce these technologies to the market in a faster and more efficient way, making them accessible to everyone.