June 2020 - Physical Sciences Inc.

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a research program from the U.S. Air Force to develop an on-chip Phase Stable Interferometric Time-bin Entangled (PSITE) transceiver

Quantum networking using quantum entanglement is a potentially revolutionary technology with both anticipated application, such as blind quantum computing and secure communications, as well as a host of yet-to-be-discovered uses. To discover such game-changing applications and to reveal the true potential of quantum entanglement, scientist and engineers need standardized and reliable hardware to transmit and receive entangled quantum states of light. While demonstrating standardized devices is of the upmost importance, new technology should improve upon existing demonstrations. One of the largest challenges revealed for single-photon-based networking is successfully transmitting complex entangled states.

To address this challenge, PSI and its university team will combine three key innovations. First, to use time-bin encoding to greatly increase the dimensionality of entangled states while simultaneously reducing the impact of losses. Second, to leverage commercially available photonic integrated circuit platform that can provide nearly all of the needed functionality directly on a chip. Third, to design the devices to be phase-stable using active feedback to make the resulting chips scalable to higher dimensionality entangled states. This approach will result in a Phase Stable Interferometric Time-bin Entangled (PSITE) transceiver that will facilitate exploring quantum-entanglement applications.

PSI’s PSITE transceivers developed under this program will become a standardized component for time-bin entanglement generation. These highly mass-producible, robust devices will not only enable anticipated applications such as blind quantum computing, quantum networking, and secure communications, but these devices will enable engineers and researchers to explore new applications that harness the unique features of quantum entanglement.
For more information, contact:

Dr. Joel Hensley
Vice President, Photonics Enterprise

hensley@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
(978) 689-0003

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a research program from the U.S. Air Force to develop a novel quantum magnetometer based on an atomic vapor capable of producing accurate readings of the total magnetic field (scalar magnitude) while operating in any orientation with respect to Earth’s magnetic field.

All other atomic magnetometer approaches suffer from dead zones and heading error requiring duplicate sensors and algorithmic corrections for use in Department of Defense (DoD) applications. PSI’s Compact Heading Error Free Scalar (CHEFS) magnetometer leverages the inherent accuracy of atomic transitions in a warm vapor while adopting a quantum sensor architecture to produce orientation-independent magnetic measurements, using similar components with demonstrated compatibility with low size, weight, and power (SWaP) operation.
PSI’s CHEFS magnetometer provides a unique measurement of the total (scalar) magnetic field in an orientation independent manner with high accuracy. This has use in the oil and gas industry that regularly performs magnetic and other geophysical surveys for exploration. In addition, the CHEFS can contribute to environmental and geoscience in the study of the earth’s magnetic field and space weather phenomena.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Joel Hensley
Vice President, Photonics Enterprise

hensley@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
(978) 689-0003

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a research program from the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center to develop an Improved Laser Event Recorder (I-LER) that is a plug-in accessory to a smart phone.

The I-LER will build upon the proven original LER concept exploiting the sparsity of point-source laser events with a novel hyperspectral imaging architecture. PSI’s design moves several of the largest and costliest items in the original LER, including the power supply, GPS, context camera and microprocessor, into a single mass-produced item. Performance improvements will include an updated discrimination algorithm to reduce false alarm rate and an extended spectral range of 400-2000 nm.

The number of laser events reported by military and commercial aircraft continues to rise. This is a concern for both flight safety and pilot health. The I-LER benefits include: immediate information available to pilots to assess the level of threat, real-time data on the nature of laser radiation to assist in evaluation of visual health impact, and forensic data to aid in the identification and apprehension of perpetrators of aircraft lasing events, all at a lower cost and reduced SWAP relative to existing LERs.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Julia Dupuis
Vice President, Tactical Systems
jdupuis@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a research program from the Naval Air Warfare Center to develop integrated photonic devices for quantum measurement applications. The technology developed within this program will dramatically reduce the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of the optical system required for atom-based sensor applications by several order of magnitude.

Quantum inertial measurements of accelerations and rotations can provide the sensitivity and accuracy required for even the highest performance inertial navigation applications, however, the complexity and SWaP requirements of the associated optical bench exceed practical limits for portable inertial navigation systems (INS).
To overcome this challenge, PSI will develop the Photonic Integrated Circuits for Compact Atomic-Raman Devices (PICCARD) platform. This platform will leverage advanced photonic-integrated circuits to provide direct control of light on-chip at the native visible and near infrared wavelengths of atomic transitions.

The devices produced within this program will enable chip-scale atom-based inertial sensors. These sensors can enable widely-deployable navigation systems with long-term stability in GPS-denied environments. As the key component of inertial navigation systems, these chips will enable a mass-producible solution to a host of DoD core missions, from aircraft navigation to autonomous vehicles. This technology will also be adaptable to quantum optics, metrology, bio-sensing, and bio-medicine.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Joel Hensley
Vice President, Photonics Enterprise
hensley@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a research program from the U.S. Army to lead a team to develop an airborne cryogen generator. The compact liquid cryogen production system will use extremely small turbomachines for all compression and expansion processes and additively manufactured compact heat exchangers for heat rejection and Joule-Thomson cooling. The use of industry-leading compact components with high efficiencies will lead to low system mass and will target the highest achievable production rate per unit system mass.

Turbomachinery is directly derived from a prior small turboalternator under development. Heat exchangers are derived from existing development units that have demonstrated their performance for two-phase flow in prior research.

The major benefit of the program is to make the compact, high-COP cryogen generators available to mobile platforms. This capability will enable higher instantaneous discharge rates for pulsed-power electronics and other high energy systems that have high power density. The system may also be considered for 6th generation fighter jets or other aircraft that need to dissipate electronics heat. Other applications include high altitude and spaceborne platforms, as well as ground vehicles that experience packaging constraints.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Sean Torrez
Group Leader, Deployable Technologies
storrez@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a research contract from the Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate a compact ceilometer for operation at remote unattended sites. PSI’s ceilometer incorporates a fiber laser and uses state-of-the-art techniques for ruggedization and stability in environmental extremes.

The advent of sensor networks to gather atmospheric data for weather and climate predictions on large spatial and temporal scales is crucial to the advancement of our understanding of many important processes that make up predictive models. The height of the atmospheric boundary layer, for example, is used to parameterize boundary layer transport in numerical weather prediction models and boundary layer effects related to fluxes of trace gases in inversion models. Increased knowledge of boundary layer structure drives the desire to add the capability to monitor this height to networks.

Field data obtained using PSI’s compact ceilometer for monitoring boundary layer and cloud ceilings developed in this program can be used to decrease the uncertainties that still remain. PSI previously developed a design for a compact ceilometer that will be deployable year-round at unattended network sites and two engineering prototypes were fabricated. During this effort, this technology will be fully matured and create an advanced pre-production prototype.

PSI’s compact ceilometer will enable measurements of boundary layer heights and cloud ceilings on a wider scale and at higher frequencies than are possible now when deployed at long-term measurement sites. Such measurements are fundamental to improving our understanding of the complex couplings between the surface and lower atmosphere and will ultimately help evolve models used in both weather forecasting and climate change prediction. The sensor is adaptable to deployment at untowered airports to provide improved weather data to general aviation pilots.

For more information, contact:

Dr. David Sonnenfroh
Area Manager, Atmospheric Sciences

sonnenfroh@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003