US researchers target compact quantum sensing for navigating contested environments

Nitride Global, a US developer of advanced thermal-management, dielectric, and semiconductor materials, will study a centimeter-scale quantum sensor designed to support navigation when GPS signals are unavailable. The Wichita-based company announced on September 14 that it had received an AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research Phase I contract supporting the Department of the Air Force. The project will assess the feasibility of a microwave atom-chip quantum sensor for precision navigation and remote-sensing gravimetry. Known as the Atom-Interferometer Microwave Atom Chip, or A-MAC, the proposed device will be evaluated using Nitride Global’s aluminum oxynitride platform. Navigation without satellite signals The project addresses a challenge faced by Airmen and Guardians operating in environments where GPS signals may be jammed, spoofed, or completely unavailable. Conventional inertial navigation systems accumulate errors over time. Without periodic satellite updates, those errors cause positional uncertainty to increase, restricting how long and how far a platform can operate independently. Atom interferometers offer a potential alternative because they measure acceleration and rotation against the wavelength of a matter wave. Nitride Global said these systems are among the most stable inertial sensors demonstrated so far. However, most leading systems still occupy a meter or more of laboratory bench space. According to the company, the principal obstacle to miniaturization is the packaging surrounding the sensor rather than its underlying physics. Compact microwave atom chips continue to rely on distributed radio-frequency hardware. The resulting heat and phase drift can degrade measurements, making the technology difficult to deploy outside controlled laboratory environments. Bringing microwave hardware onto one board Nitride Global’s A-MAC architecture is intended to consolidate the distributed microwave chain onto a single integrated board. Its thin, conformal AlON dielectric material would allow microwave routing, coupling structures, and trap geometry to be positioned within the same stack. Heat would move outward through metal instead of passing through a bulk ceramic substrate. The aim is to create a centimeter-scale architecture suitable for platforms with strict size, weight, and power requirements. Nitride Global will work with Dr. Seth Aubin, associate professor of physics at William & Mary. Aubin’s atomic physics group will participate as a subcontractor and research partner, bringing more than a decade of work on microwave atom-chip traps and related trapping physics. During the initial phase, the partners will model the architecture’s thermal behavior, microwave insertion loss, coupling, and possible trap geometries. The work will conclude with a decision gate and technical roadmap for a potential second phase. From laboratories to contested environments The technology could eventually support satellite-independent positioning, navigation, and timing across hypersonic vehicles, unmanned aircraft, orbital systems, submerged platforms, autonomous ground vehicles, and UAV interceptors. Commercial applications could include resource exploration, infrastructure monitoring, and subsurface mapping. “Quantum inertial sensing has been constrained for the same reason power electronics were constrained a decade ago: the limit is set by the package, not by the physics. If microwave routing and thermal management can be carried on the same material system, the instrument becomes small enough to fly,” said Mahyar Khosravi, CEO of Nitride Global.The company is now seeking input from aerospace and defense integrators to define the sensor’s form factor, environmental requirements, and performance thresholds.Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Atharva is a full-time content writer with a post-graduate degree in media & amp; entertainment and a graduate degree in electronics & telecommunications. He has written in the sports and technology domains respectively. In his leisure time, Atharva loves learning about digital marketing and watching soccer matches. His main goal behind joining Interesting Engineering is to learn more about how the recent technological advancements are helping human beings on both societal and individual levels in their daily lives.