Many specialists believe that a second quantum revolution is about to occur globally. The transistor and the laser were made possible by energy quantization, and the ability of humans to control individual atoms and electrons has the potential to revolutionize a variety of sectors, from communications and energy to medicine and defense. The quantum computer, which in principle is so potent that it could decipher the codes underlying internet security in just a few minutes, is the most well-known of these emerging technologies. Full-scale quantum computers, however, could be decades distant. The market is beginning to see quantum devices. However, they use quantum phenomena to encrypt messages rather than decrypt them.
However, many scientists think that quantum sensing will be where it first achieves significant economic success. It is because sensing can benefit from the very property that makes developing a quantum computer so challenging: the exceptional sensitivity of quantum states to their surroundings.
Quantum sensors can pick up various tiny environmental signals, such as magnetic fields from the human brain or the gravitational force of buried items. With a potential market of perhaps US$1 billion annually, a physicist predicts that gravity-measuring quantum devices, particularly, “will become more widespread quite quickly.”
Beyond a few specialized industries, it is still being determined how competitive quantum devices will be. They frequently have greater size and complexity than their traditional counterparts, which have profited from significant investments over time. The researcher thinks individuals with little practical expertise in sensor development occasionally oversell quantum technology.
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