Quantum Sensors for Complimentary PNT and Resilient Communications
ABSTRACT
The unique properties of quantum sensors offer the potential to enhance existing capabilities as well as enable novel ones across the areas of Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT), resilient communications, and sensing. This presentation will provide an overview of quantum sensors for PNT, highlighting the areas where these technologies have a high likelihood for impact. These include gravimeters and magnetometers for gravity and magnetic field-based navigation respectively as well as atomic clocks for ultra-precise timing. The author will then present her research on superconducting quantum sensors, focusing on Superconducting Quantum Interference (SQUID) arrays for robust RF communications and sensing, and Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPDs) for high-performance optical communications and sensing.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Kelly Backes is a member of the quantum sensors and devices group at the MITRE Corporation, where she is a leader of the superconducting quantum sensors thrust. In addition to sensor R&D, she has supported a number of alternative PNT-focused efforts. Before MITRE, she completed her PhD at Yale using SQUID-based quantum limited amplifiers to manipulate quantum squeezed states to circumvent the standard quantum limit in the measurement of microwave resonators.