Quantum applications today

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Technologies that rely on quantum phenomena are all around us. The first wave of quantum technologies gave us the transistor. These devices became the foundation of modern computers and digital communication. Other examples of technologies powered by quantum mechanics include:

MRI scanners for medical imaging
Lasers
Solar cells
Electron microscopes
Atomic clocks used for GPS

... and many others! These technologies rely on quantum effects that need limited control. Quantum information technologies aim to fully control individual quantum systems. Achieving this control promises new capabilities for computation, digital communication, sensor technology, and other applications.

MRI scanners for medical imaging

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized how we diagnose diseases, providing medical professionals with a non-invasive method to generate images inside human bodies. MRI machines work thanks to the quantum property of spin, which provides each atom with a predictable magnetic property. By exciting these magnets with radio-frequency light, we can make 3D maps of objects from the outside.

Modern medical MRIs have high enough resolution to image individual hairs. Physicists are developing a new MRI technique using defects in diamond as quantum processors that is thousands of times more precise — almost down to the size of an atom.

Quantum is spurring the next revolution in medical imaging
Read more and see how IQC postdoctoral fellow Michele Piscetelli is working towards MRI at the nanoscale in Seeing the invisible.

Lasers

The laser, which stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, is a quantum process that produces a highly focused beam of light. Lasers are only possible because of the quantized energy levels in atoms, which can be manipulated to emit more light when illuminated through a process called stimulated emission.

Lasers are used for optical disk storage (DVDs), surgery, fibre telecommunications and internet connections, playing with cats and many other applications. They’re also key in building other quantum technologies like atomic clocks.

Watch video on YouTube

Solar cells

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Solar cells convert light into an electric current, a process known as the photovoltaic effect. This effect can only be explained if light comes in discrete packets (also called photons) – a cornerstone of quantum mechanics.

Electron microscopes

Canada Flag

GUINESS WORLD RECORDS^TM named this Canadian flag as the Smallest national flag in September 2016, measuring in at only 1.178 micrometres in length. It was created and imaged here at the Institute for Quantum Computing, and is only visible through electron microscopy. Read more about this world record.

Electron microscopes are able to see some of the smallest details in the world by using electrons rather than light as a source of illumination. Because electrons have a wavelength up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light, electron microscopes have a much better resolution than traditional optical microscopes. Tunnelling electron microscopes are another type of microscope that uses quantum tunnelling to image surfaces of materials with atomic precision.

Watch video on YouTube

Atomic clocks

The Global Positioning System (GPS) uses very accurate atomic clocks for geolocation. Atomic clocks are better than any other clocks. They keep time by monitoring the microwave signal that electrons in atoms emit when they change energy levels. The best atomic clocks today are so precise that if we would have started two identical clocks 3 billion years ago, they would be off by less than one second today!

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This is an atom trap used in the Bajcsy Nano-Photonics and Quantum Optics lab at the Institute of Quantum Computing. These traps are very similar to those used to trap atoms in atomic clocks. Read more (PDF) about how IQC researchers are enabling photon-photon interactions using laser-cooled atoms in the lab.