Electrically driven maser-based quantum amplifiers for compact and ultra-low-noise detection of microwaves

This proposal combines innovations in previously parallel fields of organic electronics to build a new groundbreaking electrically driven quantum microwave amplifier at room temperature with unprecedented performance. This new hybrid optoelectronic device represents a major advance in masers, which amplify microwaves in the way that lasers amplify light. So far, masers have required expensive and large external light sources that prevent their widespread deployment in modern applications. In our design, the maser materials will be interleaved with thin layers of powerful organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that efficiently excite the maser gain media directly in situ, thereby eliminating the need for external lasers. This will enable a new generation of masers ten times smaller and lighter than existing devices, enabling their widespread use. Robust and sensitive detection of microwave radiation is technically very important because microwaves are widely used in communications technologies, space monitoring, and healthcare. Detecting weak microwave signals at room temperature has been very challenging due to thermal noise. So far, this challenge has been met by cooling microwave detectors to near absolute zero, using high and potentially hazardous microwave signal powers, or accumulating data for a long time to average away the thermal noise. Ultimately, however, this limits the sensitivity, speed, and efficiency of vital technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging, radar, space imaging, and even the development of quantum computing. In this project, we will offer a transformative solution to high-precision microwave measurement by using “microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation” (maser). Room-temperature solid-state masers were first demonstrated in 2012 and are capable of amplifying, detecting, and thereby sensing extremely weak microwave signals. By capitalising on new developments in OLED technology, our new compact OLED-pumped maser will combine electrical efficiency, high sensitivity, and unprecedented signal-to-noise performance to transform a plethora of microwave precision measurement applications. We will work with our industrial partners to assess their performance compared to state-of-the-art conventional microwave amplifiers and explore real-world use cases relevant to materials science, space exploration, quantum technologies and healthcare to deliver genuine benefit to society. This project will lead to advances in the physical sciences of organic semiconductors and optoelectronic devices and significantly contribute to the UK’s leading position in quantum science.