Quantum technologies are evolving at a rapid pace. Spurred by the promise of exponentially faster computation and classically unachievable sensitivity, billions of dollars are being poured into the development of quantum computers and quantum sensors. However, despite their shared use of quantum phenomena, including tunneling, entanglement, and superposition, each market’s characteristics and ten-year outlook are quite distinct. Drawing on comprehensive reports covering both quantum technologies, IDTechEx separates hype from reality to compare the opportunities over the next decade.
What are Quantum Computers and Quantum Sensors?
Quantum hardware platforms enable the initiation and manipulation of quantum states. When interfaced with more established electronics, quantum phenomena enable new computing and sensing capabilities. Quantum computers require large numbers of entangled logical qubits to exponentially reduce computation times, with multiple competing modalities aiming to reduce error rates and enhance scalability.
While the sensitivity of quantum states to external factors creates challenges for quantum computer developers, the interaction of states with properties such as motion, magnetic field, and gravity facilitates quantum sensing. Similar quantum hardware platforms can be adapted into quantum sensors and quantum computers. This includes superconducting circuits, photonic systems, cold-atoms, and nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. More detail about these technology platforms is covered in the IDTechEx’s reports “Quantum Sensors Market 2024-2044″and“Quantum Computing 2023-2033”.
Application Specific vs Vertical Agnostic
Few would deny that hype about quantum computers far outweighs that of quantum sensors. While quantum computers regularly hit the headlines while featuring in science fiction and popular culture (including a recent episode of the TV series Black Mirror), quantum sensors are yet to enter public consciousness. Even within the quantum technology community, quantum computing often overshadows interest in quantum sensing – look no further than most industry conference agendas and scientific abstracts.
Quantum computers attract most of the interest due primarily to their simple elevator pitch: an exponential reduction in computation time enabling far more complex problems to be solved than at present. Everyone uses a computer, so can easily appreciate the prospect of a much faster and more capable computer. The boom of interest in artificial intelligence (AI) serves only to amplify interest in quantum computing. Furthermore, while the specific problems quantum computing is best suited to tackle within each industry vary, the additional processing capabilities of a quantum computer is largely market vertical agnostic.
In contrast to this ‘one-to-many’ technology-to-application mapping of quantum computers, quantum sensors are far more application specific. Indeed, the ‘quantum sensing’ category represents a wide range of devices, each with a limited number of specific use cases. Device types include magnetic field sensors, gyroscopes, gravimeters, photodetectors, and even atomic clocks. Use-cases for these sensor types range from remote current sensing in electric vehicles and biomagnetic brain scanning to underground mapping and precision navigation. As such, the value offered by quantum sensing is specific within the industries for aerospace, automotive, geophysical surveying, and medical imaging. This technology-to-application specificity leads to a more fragmented ecosystem than quantum computing, diluting hype and competition.
