We are happy to announce the successful launch of the EU-funded project AMADEUS (Advancing the MArket uptake of Diamond dEfects qUantum Sensors). It started on October 1, 2022 and it will last for three years. AMADEUS is an industry-oriented consortium involving large companies, RTOs, SME’s and academic partners. The project targets the market uptake of quantum sensors exploiting Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centres in ultrapure diamond crystals, one of the most promising and market-ready technology of quantum sensing. NV centres in diamond is the core element for robust quantum sensing with unprecedented compactness, which enables disruptive technologies for a variety of applications ranging from novel tools for semiconductor industry to novel ways to measure and analyse brain functions.
AMADEUS capitalises on the preceding EU-funded project ASTERIQS, in which the NV-based technology was developed to TRL 4-5 in the ramp-up phase of the Quantum Flagship. Within the AMADEUS project, four advanced applications of this technology will be pursued up to TRL 6-7 to answer societal and economical needs:
THALES provides decision-making systems in order to allow taking the appropriate application decision with accurate knowledge of the situation. TRT, the corporate research laboratory, has coordinated numerous EC projects and has pioneered the concept of an NV spectrum analyser. TDMS is a business unit dedicated to radar and RF communications.
Diatope GmbH, founded in late 2021, has been established as a company dedicated to the development of engineered diamond for quantum technologies. The vision is to provide CVD diamond “Made-in-Germany” with NV centers for applications as highly sensitive detectors and quantum processors. Combining unique know how in CVD diamond growth, NV generation, certification and application, the team at Diatope will be a key enabler for the diamond quantum ecosystem.
Within the AMADEUS project, Diatope will deliver isotopically purified diamond films with highly sensitive, shallow NV centers was well as thicker, nitrogen doped, NV rich layers. The development of unique manufacturing processes is driven by the goal of establishing a stable supply of tailored diamond material.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF is a RTO in the multidisciplinary AMADEUS consortium and one of the leading research institutions worldwide in the field of III-V semiconductors and diamond technology. The technical contribution of Fraunhofer IAF is the development of ultra-pure, isotopically enriched diamond as well as NV-doped diamond, which will be provided to the partners of the consortium. Technological developments for highest sensor performance are one of the main objectives to realize a wide-field imager for electronic circuit analysis.
IMEC is a world leading centre in micro and nanoelectronics, providing benchmarking with contemporary technologies. It provides links to largest semiconductor and microelectronics companies.
The University of Stuttgart /3rd Institute of Physics/ is an academic partner in the multidisciplinary AMADEUS consortium. On the technical part, it will contribute mainly to the development of NV-based gradiometer for recording magnetic fields over an unlimited range. This work focuses on both hardware and software development.Since many years the 3rd Institute of Physics of the University of Stuttgart (Prof. Dr. Jörg Wrachtrup) plays the pioneering role in the studies of quantum information processing, quantum sensing and quantum metrology.
SQUTEC is a start-up company that spun off from the University of Stuttgart in 2018 and works on quantum sensor prototypes and the development of sensors for medical device industry. In frames of AMADEUS project, it will develop a fully integrated and portable endoscope with pT sensitivity. The sensor employs a gradiometry scheme for operating in ambient conditions without magnetic shielding. SQUTEC will also contribute with knowledge of prototype development and field testing.
Bosch corporate research possess a large experience in the miniaturisation of sensors and has also proven this competence in the last 5 years in the field of quantum sensors. With Bosch’s early entry in the research of NV-based, miniaturised quantum sensors, Bosch became one of the companies, which is currently leading the way in this field.
In AMADEUS, Bosch will for the first time fabricate a miniaturised magnetic field gradiometer as sensor system including two sensor heads based on individual NV-based magnetometers. This will allow a demonstration of a high sensitivity magnetic gradiometer in an operational environment. The sensor will include several sensor components developed by Bosch with support by the AMADEUS partners.
