US Army Combat Capabilities Development Team Perfecting a Quantum Sensor Using Rydberg Atoms

(Forbes) Quantum sensing is an area of interest to our military because it is useful on and off the battlefield. For that reason, Army scientists are doing leading-edge research, and exploring the use of quantum sensing for such applications as submarine detection, underwater communications, geolocation, navigation, and communications.
The Army is building experimental quantum radios using Rydberg atoms created from Rubidium, an alkali metal. Alkali metal atoms are used because they have a single valence electron in the outer shell.
David Meyer, Kevin Cox, and Paul Kunz, a team of research scientists at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory. The team is perfecting a quantum sensor that they previously announced as the world’s first quantum radio receiver using Rydberg atoms. He explained, “The lab’s mission, saying, “Our main research focus is finding ways in general, and in theory, that quantum sensors can be useful for Department of Defense applications. We’re interested in how quantum sensors can be useful for military communications, electronic warfare, or other military sensing applications.”