Five new national hubs, which are being supported by a £160 million investment, have been announced to harness the power of quantum physics.

Durham’s Physics researchers will be part of two of these hubs, working alongside other universities and industry.

Security and advanced radar systems

One is the UK Quantum Technology Research Hub in Sensing, Imaging and Timing (QuSIT), led by the University of Birmingham.

This hub aims to overcome key research barriers to quantum sensing, imaging and timing being used at scale.

Durham’s team will lead on experiments to use Rydberg atom-based quantum sensors for applications in security screening and advanced radar systems.

For many years, researchers at Durham have pioneered experimental techniques to use highly excited ‘Rydberg’ atoms as sensitive detectors of radio wave and terahertz radiation. QuSIT will allow us to further develop these quantum sensors and, together with industrial partners, apply them to challenges in security screening and advanced radar systems. Professor Kevin Weatherill Department of Physics

Quantum computers

Our researchers are also part of the Hub for Quantum Computing via Integrated and Interconnected Implementations (QCI3), led by the University of Oxford.

This hub aims to develop the technologies needed for the UK to play a key role in the development of quantum computers, a market estimated to be worth $1.3trillion by 2030.

Durham’s researchers will bring their expertise on optical tweezers, Rydberg atoms and ultracold molecules to develop neutral atoms as a platform for quantum computing.

The requirements for a quantum computer are very, very demanding and no single platforms ticks all the requirements. Over the past five years or so, arrays of single neutral atoms confined in optical tweezers have emerged as a new and competitive platform to challenge more established approaches using ions and superconducting devices. Professor Simon Cornish Department of Physics

Fast-tracking quantum knowledge

Quantum technologies use quantum physics to gain a functionality or performance which is otherwise unattainable, deriving from science which cannot be explained by classical physics such as Newton’s laws of motion or thermodynamics.

The new hubs continue the work of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme. Now in its tenth year, this partnership of more than £1billion between government, academia and industry, fast-tracks quantum knowledge from laboratory to wider society and economic impact.

Find out more

  • The latest hubs are delivered by the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with a £106million investment from EPSRC, the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Research Council, UKRI Medical Research Council, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Industry collaboration is a key element, with cash and in-kind contributions from partners worth more than £54million. Read the UK Government announcement.

  • Read about the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme.