Igor Pikovski Receives $400K DoE Grant to Improve Quantum Sensing with Inspiration from Quantum Computing

Igor PikovskiIgor Pikovski, assistant professor of physics at Stevens Institute of Technology, has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for his research study, “Quantum Information Encoding and Decoding for Quantum Sensing.”

Quantum technologies promise transformative new capabilities, from previously impossible computational proficiency to sensitive measurement strategies and more. However, even quantum physics has limitations, and its advantages and disadvantages must be carefully balanced when building quantum technologies.

In this project, Pikovski will adapt and generalize techniques from quantum error correction and quantum information encoding to support practical advances in quantum sensors. The goal is to create innovative strategies for encoding and detecting quantum information. The results will show how to better accumulate, transmit and shield quantum information in quantum sensors, enabling new sensing strategies and new sensor designs in systems such as atomic clocks and quantum magnetometers.

"Quantum technologies have many useful applications, yet we still don't fully understand their potential,” Pikovski said. “This project will combine ideas from quantum computing with quantum metrology, to help uncover untapped capabilities of quantum sensors and find out how exactly we can control some quantum phenomena in entirely new ways.”