Quantum Technologies Enabled by Additive Manufacturing
QTEAM will demonstrate the use of Additive Manufacturing to produce lightweight and power-efficient space gravimeters that use quantum properties to provide highly accurate measurements of variations in gravity.
QTEAM brings together expertise from Metamorphic, the University of Nottingham and Torr Scientific to build upon a quantum space gravimeter that is currently being developed by RAL Space. It aims to establish a UK-based AM supply chain for quantum technologies, placing the UK at the forefront of global ultra-portable quantum devices. The project focuses on three key areas of innovation:
• The development of new design methods for additively manufactured ultra-high vacuum (UHV) systems to enable a new "ultra-portable" phase of quantum technologies for space applications.
• The development of novel and highly efficient active and passive pumping methods.
• The optimisation of magneto-optical trapping via non-standard 4D magnetic field distributions (varying non-separably in time and spatial coordinates).
QTEAM is being co-funded by Innovate UK as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund strand to commercialise quantum technologies. Metamorphic will demonstrate the unique opportunities for innovation within quantum tech, enabled by the unprecedented geometric freedom that Additive Manufacturing has to offer. We will be using our expertise in advanced computational and mechanical design for AM, alongside multi-physics simulation and AM material and process knowledge to provide radical solutions to some key technical challenges in the emerging quantum tech industry.
