{"id":309279,"date":"2026-02-25T10:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/309279\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T10:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:15:08","slug":"researchers-launch-9-million-project-to-build-entangled-quantum-sensor-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/309279\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers launch $9 Million project to build entangled quantum sensor networks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>image: \u00a9imaginima | iStock
\n University of Michigan engineers are leading a $9 million initiative to develop entangled quantum sensor networks. By linking sensors through quantum states, the team aims to revolutionise navigation and timing with record-breaking sensitivity<\/p>\n

A University of Michigan-led team has secured $9 million from the U.S. Office of Naval Research<\/a> to explore the fundamental limits of quantum networking. The five-year project aims to develop sensor networks linked through quantum entanglement\u2014a phenomenon where particles remain connected regardless of the distance between them.<\/p>\n

By harnessing these quantum links,<\/a> the team intends to create sensing systems with unprecedented levels of precision and speed.<\/p>\n

Breaking traditional sensitivity limits<\/p>\n

In a conventional sensor network, measurement sensitivity typically improves at a rate relative to the square root of the number of sensors. However, by using entangled states, the researchers believe they can achieve a \u201cquantum leap\u201d in performance, where sensitivity improves with the square of the number of sensors.<\/p>\n

\u201cEntanglement can allow you to improve the performance of a sensor network in terms of resolution,\u201d says project leader Zheshen Zhang. This means these networks could detect finer details and process signals with a much higher signal-to-noise ratio than current technology allows. Potential applications include ultra-precise atomic clocks, magnetic field sensing, and autonomous navigation systems that do not rely on GPS.<\/p>\n

Proving the theory with dual testbeds<\/p>\n

To validate their methods, the multidisciplinary team will utilise two distinct quantum testbeds:<\/p>\n

Rydberg atom arrays:<\/p>\n

These involve atoms with \u201croving\u201d electrons that are highly sensitive to electric and magnetic fields. By using lasers to place these atoms into a state of quantum superposition, the team can create an array of several hundred qubits that react instantly to signals as a single, unified sensor.<\/p>\n

Mechanical membranes:<\/p>\n

This testbed uses thin membranes that vibrate in response to light, much like a human eardrum responds to sound. Researchers will cool these sensors to 0.1 Kelvin\u2014nearly absolute zero\u2014and link them using entangled light to suppress thermal noise.<\/p>\n

Laying the groundwork for a quantum internet<\/p>\n

A significant challenge for the team is maintaining entanglement over time. Environmental \u201cnoise\u201d can easily break the delicate bonds between entangled atoms, destroying the quantum<\/a> advantage. The project will focus on developing error suppression and correction techniques to keep these networks stable.<\/p>\n

The findings from this initiative are expected to provide the foundational building blocks for a future quantum internet<\/a>, where distributed sensors and computers work together across vast distances with perfect synchronisation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"image: \u00a9imaginima | iStock University of Michigan engineers are leading a $9 million initiative to develop entangled quantum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[85,46,139,1423,30638,141,138222],"class_list":["post-309279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-quantum","tag-quantum-computing","tag-research-and-science-funding","tag-science","tag-technological-innovations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}