November/December 2020

n TECHNOLOGY SICK HAS JOINED forces with a specialist subsidiary of Trumpf called Q.ANT to make quantum optical sensor technologies available for industrial use, potentially allowing measurements to be made with previously unattainable accuracies. The partners have already successful tested the world’s first quantum optical sensor for serial production, and are planning to release the first commercial versions during 2021. These initial devices will be used to analyse substances in the air with the ability to detect particles that are about two hundred times smaller than the width of a human hair. Until now, quantum sensors have been restricted mainly to research laboratories. Using laser light, they allow measurements to be made that would be impossible using conventional techniques. According to Q.ANT’s CEO, Michael Förtsch, the technology will, for example, enable ultrafast measurements of the movements and size distribution of particles. The industrialisation of the sensors will mark “a major step towards the commercialisation of quantum technology,” he says. “Quantum technology is the next level for sensors because it shifts hitherto firmly established technical limits,” explains Niels Syassen, Sick’s senior vice-president of r&d. “Using quantum effects, additional details can be perceived from signal noise where, up to now, no specific signals would have been measurable.” Quantum sensors could be used to perform highly accurate measurements in a wide range of industrial applications. For example, they could be used: n in electronics circuits, to inspect through surfaces; n in the pharmaceutical industry, to determine the best composition of tablet powders; and n in civil engineering, to visualise underground structures before construction begins. Germany’s National Academy of Science and Engineering (Acatech) has estimated that the global market for industrial quantum sensors could be worth around €1.1bn by 2023. According to Sick’s chairman, Robert Bauer, by embarking on the production of quantum sensors, the company “is expanding its position as a worldwide technology leader in the sensor sector… Quantum sensors are a key technology for the future of industry.” Stuttgart-based Q.ANT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trumpf which employs around 15 people and is developing ways of making quantum technology suitable for everyday use with the help of new photonic technologies. It will work on the core technologies, while Sick will develop applications for the quantum products, as well as marketing and selling them. “Quantum technology is an enormous opportunity for German and European industry,” declares Trumpf’s chief technology officer, Peter Leibinger. “This will be the first time that the partnership between our two high-tech companies will involve a product for serial production. “The quantum sensor enables higly accurate measurements, and will provide insights that will lead to completely new industrial applications,” he predicts. https://www.sick.com/de/en https://qant.de/?lang=en World’s first quantum sensors, due on sale in 2021, will deliver ‘unmatched’ accuracy POWER DISTRIBUTION ENCLOSURES CLIMATE CONTROL Enclosures from the smallest to the largest. Functional tests have already been performed successfully on the quantum sensors