Inertial sensors, such as gyroscopes and accelerometers, are widely used in aerospace and navigation and play a vital role in seismic monitoring and safety for urban areas and large infrastructures. In particular, fiber-optic inertial sensors, being passive, lightweight, and immune to electromagnetic interference, can be ideally integrated into complex structures for localized and distributed sensing. Optical fibers are also a well-established technology, today widely used in a wealth of applications in physics, engineering and aerospace. However, limitations due to classical noise prevent a significant improvement in the performance currently achievable with fiber sensors.
Inertial sensors, such as gyroscopes and accelerometers, are widely used in aerospace and navigation and play a vital role in seismic monitoring and safety for urban areas and large infrastructures. In particular, fiber-optic inertial sensors, being passive, lightweight, and immune to electromagnetic interference, can be ideally integrated into complex structures for localized and distributed sensing. Optical fibers are also a well-established technology, today widely used in a wealth of applications in physics, engineering and aerospace. However, limitations due to classical noise prevent a significant improvement in the performance currently achievable with fiber sensors.
Modern developments have led to a breakthrough in quantum technology that is the key to improving navigation and positioning systems. Translation of concepts such as superposition, entanglement, and quantum interference into quantum sensors pave the way toward high precision and accuracy in measuring gravitational, magnetic, and inertial forces. This chapter provides information on the performance of quantum sensors emphasizing navigation and positioning techniques. The superior performance of quantum accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers regarding sensitivity, non-drift, and lower errors are compared to classical systems. In addition, the implementation of quantum sensors in systems that can work alone, and in systems that are incorporated with classical GPS systems but have added quantum advantages is explained. This work also discusses the current research and development efforts on quantum sensors, the challenges of integrating them into modern applications, approaches to miniaturizing the technology for practical use, and their potential future adoption in areas such as creature design, autonomous transportation, defense, and aerospace. As a result of the comprehensive content included in this chapter, readers will gain a sufficient appreciation of the scientific principles upon which quantum sensors are anchored, as well as technology’s capability and versatility in enabling accurate navigation and positioning.
The integration of quantum science with optical fiber technology is redefining the limits of precision measurement and distributed sensing. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in quantum‐enhanced fiber‐optic sensing, focusing on how quantum light sources, quantum materials, and quantum algorithms are converging to improve sensitivity, selectivity, and dynamic range in distributed fiber‐optic sensing (DFOS). Developments in entangled and squeezed light as well as quantum‐defect and two‐dimensional materials are shown to enable measurements of temperature, strain, pressure, magnetic field, and chemical composition beyond the classical shot‐noise limit. The exploration of quantum and quantum‐inspired algorithms to improve sensing apparatuses and frameworks and help alleviate massive data bottlenecks is highlighted. Insights drawn from magnetometry, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), optomechanics, photonic computing, tensor networks, and quantum‐enhanced imaging illustrate how cross‐domain quantum technologies can inform next‐generation fiber sensing architectures. The review also identifies key challenges, such as efficient source–fiber coupling, coherence preservation over long distances, and scalable hybrid integration and outlines future pathways toward robust, field‐deployable quantum‐enhanced DFOS for environmental monitoring, biomedical diagnostics, and infrastructure security.
Abstract With the rapid development of micro‐nano fabrication technology, micro‐optical gyroscope technology has shown tremendous potential in integration, miniaturization, and sensitivity. The micro‐optical gyroscope is closely related to the performance of the gyroscopic system, which is realized by the light‐matter interaction and resonance enhancement. Currently, the detection range of micro‐optical gyroscopes extends from millimeter‐scale physical mechanical motion to molecular vibrations at the nanometer scale; however, their precision is challenging to surpass the standard quantum limit. The primary research objective of quantum precision measurement is to utilize quantum resources to conduct quantum‐enhanced measurements on physical system quantities, thereby surpassing the quantum limit and improving parameter measurement accuracy. In recent years, due to the rapid development in the field of quantum precision measurement, quantum gyroscope has made great progress in practical and engineering. In the future, by replacing traditional accelerometers and gyroscopes, it may be possible to develop highly integrated, low‐power, and low‐drift quantum inertial navigation systems. Based on the information disclosed by journals, conferences, and related research institutions, this paper briefly outlines the development status, basic principles, and corresponding challenges of the micro‐optical gyroscope. Additionally, this paper introduces the current theoretical and experimental progress of quantum‐enhanced gyroscopes.
The growing reliance on Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies across critical sectors such as defense, aerospace, and autonomous systems highlights the need for navigation solutions that are robust against signal loss, spoofing, and jamming. Quantum-based navigation systems offer a promising alternative, leveraging the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics to achieve unprecedented precision and resilience. This paper provides an overview of the core quantum technologies enabling this next generation of navigation, including atomic interferometry, quantum accelerometers, gyroscopes, and ultra-precise quantum clocks. Cold atom techniques and laser cooling play pivotal roles in enhancing measurement stability and accuracy. The integration of these technologies into inertial navigation systems (INS) significantly reduces drift and extends operational reliability in GPS-denied environments. Quantum navigation technologies are finding applications across a wide range of domains, including military defense, underwater missions, space travel, and autonomous transportation. Despite existing obstacles such as high development costs, environmental sensitivity, and the need for further miniaturization, progress in quantum sensor development and engineering continues at a steady pace. This article presents an overview of the fundamental concepts, present capabilities, and prospective advancements in quantum navigation. It also highlights the technology's promise as a viable alternative or even a possible replacement for conventional GPS systems.
Quantum sensors based on atom interferometers can provide measurements of inertial quantities with unprecedented accuracy and precision. It has been suggested that this sea change in sensing could provide an inertial navigation capability that is comparable with current satellite based navigation systems. However, the accuracy of sensor measurements is not the only factor that limits the accuracy of inertial navigation systems. In this paper, we explore the fundamental limits to inertial navigation, and explain how quantum inertial sensors could be used to alleviate some of the problems encountered in current classical inertial navigation systems, but not to solve the fundamental instability inherent in inertial navigation methods.
In recent years, quantum technology has attracted attention in inertial navigation, especially due to its extreme sensitivity to inertial forces and strong immunity to drifts, which plague conventional sensors. There are multiple groups around the world working on cold atom interferometry aiming to develop high sensitive inertial sensors for very high accuracy autonomous navigation. Recent advancements in micro-fabrication technologies have helped in development of robust and miniaturized atom interferometry based high performance inertial systems. These, in future, will pave way for autonomous satellite inertial navigation sensors based on cold atoms. Here we discuss the achievements towards realizing cold atom inertial sensors and their indomitable role as inertial sensors for future satellites. A detailed survey on the initiatives taken by different space agencies, their achievements and their plans to explore its potential in space are also discussed.