BOULDER, Colo., June 22, 2022 – ColdQuanta, the global quantum ecosystem leader, today announced a partnership with LocatorX, the world’s most ground-breaking location tracking company, to advance the development of atomic clocks. The strategic partnership will enable the companies to jointly address an expanded range of atomic clock applications through the combination of ColdQuanta’s world class team and technology, and LocatorX’s affordable, small form factor, low power atomic clocks.
A clock that tracks the frequency of atoms’ radiation is known as an atomic clock. It is predicated on the idea that atoms have various energies. In an atom, different electron states correspond to different energy levels, and as these states change, they interact with electromagnetic radiation at a very particular frequency. The International System of Units’ definition of a second is based on this phenomenon.
Under the agreement, ColdQuanta’s technical talent will assist LocatorX in the final stages of development of the Solid-state Miniature Atomic Clock (SMAC) that LocatorX licensed from the University of Oxford. The market for LocatorX’s compact SMAC will be further expanded when networked with ColdQuanta’s clock technology. The device will provide a high value solution to address common challenges such as clock drift, jamming resistance, radio silence management, signal acquisition speed and a reduction in code validity interval.
ColdQuanta has a 15-year history of successfully executing federal quantum research, and has manufactured and demonstrated a wide variety of advanced performance atomic clocks. With a team of more than 80 physicists and engineers, ColdQuanta has a track record of solving complex quantum challenges and manufacturing devices to advance the understanding of quantum.
LocatorX is building a strong reputation for asset tracking and management with system deployments at several major defense contractors. LocatorX built its secure asset tracking software for several types of IoT devices, including the ongoing development of the SMAC technology. The LocatorX engineering and science teams bring decades of experience in the technologies required to build the SMAC and securely track assets tagged with SMAC-enabled IoT devices.
“We are in a period where global instabilities are accelerating the demand for highly accurate atomic clocks that can be used across a wide variety of critical applications,” said Chester Kennedy, ColdQuanta’s President, Research and Security Solutions. “Under the agreement, ColdQuanta will offer the U.S. Government access to a unique combination of global innovation that combines the novel concepts of the original Oxford-based SMAC with the proven knowledge base of ColdQuanta’s team. When combined with ColdQuanta’s extensive portfolio of advanced clocks, the LocatorX device will unlock a variety of high value applications.”
“The heart of the new technology is a miraculous molecule in which a single atom is incarcerated within a carbon cage. This enables the rich quantum properties of the atom to be harnessed in the solid state. Pioneering research at the University of Oxford led to the discovery of the resonant transitions which provide the underpinning science for robust accurate timekeeping, in a miniature low-power device,”
said Professor Andrew Briggs, Chief Innovation Officer at LocatorX.