Aerospace & Defense Technology - February 2024 - 41

RF & Microwave Technology
An Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center arranges a radio for a demonstration atop an Army ground vehicle during the Network Modernization Experimentation 23 event.
(Image: U.S. Army)
formance advantages compared to traditional
RF sensor technologies. One
advantage lies in the inherently small
size of atoms.
An atomic receiver can be made significantly
smaller than the size of traditional
RF antenna receivers, whose
size generally scales proportionally to
the wavelength of the RF electromagnetic
signal of interest. Atomic sensors
break this proportionality requirement,
enabling the prospect of compact detectors
operational across large swaths of
the radio spectrum from long-wavelength
RF to millimeter-wave and even
THz bands. On the long-wavelength
portion of the spectrum, the function
of large antennas often used for reception
of very long wavelength RF signals,
for example in long-distance communications
systems, could be drastically
reduced in size.
There are also major advantages in
performance capabilities in terms of sensitivity
and selectivity. When you start
considering real-world operationally relevant
scenarios, in which there can be
significant electromagnetic interference
and congested RF spectrum environments,
atomic quantum sensing opens
new possibilities for more resilient communications
as well as significantly
smaller form factors.
Aerospace & Defense Technology, February 2024
A&DT: Are there any specific aerospace
and defense applications that
you have envisioned for the atomic
receiver to enable in the future?
Anderson: I think the application
possibilities are expansive, especially
considering that the capabilities of the
technology continue to advance. Several
aerospace and defense application
areas that atomic receivers could enable
in the future include advanced resilient
communication systems, low probability
of detection/intercept (LPD/LPI) and
anti-jamming applications, spectrum
monitoring, and situational awareness
in EW systems.
When you look at resilient communications
specifically, the atomic sensor
presents an entirely new modality distinct
from traditional antenna technology.
As we advance the capabilities of the
technology, we also greatly benefit from
working with partners in the aerospace
and defense industry and actively seek
feedback and expertise from the industry
to guide development of the technology
to address other specific application
needs and future capabilities.
A&DT: Now that you have completed
the NetModX demonstration,
are there any design, form factor or
mobilityengineeringtech.com
performance improvements that you
want to make to the atomic receiver
moving forward?
Anderson: We are far from the fundamental
limits of performance of
atomic sensors, and we are still looking
to push capability further. That
includes everything from advancing
performance in sensitivity, selectivity
and other metrics, to exploiting the
quantum nature of these atomic RF
systems into new technology domains.
On the hardware side, it's driving further
miniaturization and ruggedization
and operation in harsh real-world
environments and to address a broader
set of applications with even smaller
form factors.
In addition to deployment, hardware
development in quantum
and photonics also ties critically to
enabling new capabilities with quantum
sensors. Going forward, we'll
also continue to carry out more field
demonstrations and development initiatives
with early adopters, as getting
user feedback remains critical in guiding
a path to deployment.
This article was written by Woodrow
Bellamy III, Senior Editor, SAE Media
Group.
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Aerospace & Defense Technology - February 2024

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