It’s about time for quantum manufacturing

Quantum technologies promise to harness the fundamental laws for how matter behaves at the smallest possible scale to enable unprecedented, industry-defining performance for timing, sensing, and computing. Proof-of-concept quantum systems have demonstrated the ability to detect extraordinarily tiny gravitational shifts for potential applications to navigate without GPS, maintain precise time for millions of years, or even measure the magnetic field of a single neuron. But the very properties that make these sensors so powerful, specifically their extreme sensitivity to their surroundings, make them incredibly challenging to manufacture at scale.

DARPA's newly announced It's About Time program aims to establish a pilot manufacturing pipeline for tactical-grade optical clocks to demonstrate the capability to produce quantum and quantum-enabling technologies at scale.

"For too long, the quantum community has driven the state-of-the-art exclusively within the laboratory, but these innovations rarely make it into the field," said Mukund Vengalattore, program manager for It's About Time and several related quantum sensing programs.

"No one has successfully attempted to scale quantum manufacturing because integrating, miniaturizing, and ruggedizing the complex, quantum-adjacent components, such as advanced lasers and integrated photonics, is exceptionally difficult even within a single prototype - let alone at scale. Solving this manufacturing, ruggedization, and integration bottleneck is a DARPA-level problem that will open the door to a large opportunity space across several areas relevant to the Department of War."

The optical clocks prototyped within the Robust Optical Clock Network (ROCkN) program demonstrated compact, long-holdover time synchronization with precision many orders of magnitude beyond GPS-grade timing. Over a period of around five years, the program progressed from a proof-of-concept clock on a laboratory breadboard to robust and compact optical clock prototypes that have undergone extensive testing in various national laboratories and in the field.

"From the outset, we did not want ROCkN to be just another clock program - content with building a fragile prototype here, or with fabricating a small component of a larger system there. We wanted to demonstrate that exquisite laboratory-grade performance could be attained, with the correct approach, in operational environments relevant to the DoW. Along the way, we also recognized the need for specialized quantum testbeds to prototype and validate the underlying quantum-enabling technologies," Vengalattore said.

These quantum testbeds, launched under a companion effort called Optical-Atomic System Integration & Calibration (OASIC), have proved invaluable in understanding the requirements, component-level specifications, measurement protocols, packaging, and standardization procedures necessary to enable a larger manufacturing effort as well as the integration and backwards compatibility of these next-generation timing technologies with legacy clocks. This effort is part of a comprehensive DARPA strategy to accelerate the scale and adoption of both quantum and quantum-adjacent technologies.

"In the quantum domain, the conventional wisdom - that physicists demonstrate the art of the possible in a highly controlled laboratory environment, and then engineers go on to build the eventual system - is fundamentally flawed. As demonstrated within ROCkN, the components, architecture, system-level design choices, testing, and validation need to be closely tied to both the underlying quantum physics and to the operational requirements of the technology," Vengalattore said. "Building upon ROCkN, OASIC, and It's About Time, the intent is to translate this paradigm of resilient quantum manufacturing and rapid quantum technology transition to other areas of interest including quantum RF sensors, infrared imaging systems, and beyond."

Currently, most quantum sensors are assembled in small, custom batches by highly specialized technicians without standardized testing, calibration, or assembly protocols. Successfully transitioning high-precision timing technology and other quantum technologies to key DoW platforms requires a paradigm shift. The foundational hurdle to achieving this operational capability is scaling production to a rate far beyond what has been demonstrated to date for quantum technologies. In addition, It's About Time will also integrate these optical clocks into various DoW platforms to demonstrate transformative beyond-GPS capabilities that are enabled by the introduction of picosecond-level timing precision into operational paradigms.

"By demonstrating that robust mass production is possible, we can create the economies of scale necessary to rapidly adopt these ruggedized, size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) relevant capabilities across DoW platforms in operationally relevant environments," Vengalattore said. "Precision timekeeping and synchronized communication, operating independently of GPS in contested environments, and other related capabilities creates unparalleled resilience and strategic alignment for our warfighters. Building this pipeline now ensures a critical first-mover advantage for both American industry and for the joint force."

It's About Time has awarded a contract to IonQ (which purchased ROCkN performer Vector Atomic) to establish the optical clock manufacturing pipeline using Vector Atomic's expertise. A manufacturing facility is expected to be open by mid-2027 with deliverable production units available within a year of facility completion.

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