Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

The expanding role of National Metrology Institutes in the quantum era

Nature Physics volume 18, pages 724–727 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Emerging quantum technologies pose new measurement challenges, but also offer previously unknown measurement solutions. National metrology institutes are playing a leading role in this fast evolving world.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: A microfabricated three-dimensional ion trap.

NPL.

Fig. 2: Compact atomic clock vapour cell.

Hummon/NIST.

References

  1. Scientific Background on the Nobel Prize in Physics 2012: Measuring and Manipulating Individual Quantum Systems (Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 2021); https://go.nature.com/3QnIXpS

  2. Kuramoto, N. Nat. Phys. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01615-x (2022).

  3. Godun, R. M. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 210801 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Lange, R. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 011102 (2021).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Tsai, J.-S., Jain, A. K. & Lukens, J. E. Phys. Rev. Lett. 51, 316–319 (1983).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Janssen, T. J. B. M. et al. New J. Phys. 13, 093026 (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Stuhler, J. et al. Meas. Sens. 18, 100264 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Janssen, T. J. B. M. et al. 2D Mater. 2, 035015 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Grotti, J. et al. Nat. Phys. 14, 437–441 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kennedy, C. J. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 201302 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Chunnilall, C., Degiovanni, I. P., Kück, S., Müller, I. & Sinclair, A. J. Opt. Eng. 53, 081910 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. ETSI GS QKD 011 V1.1.1 (2016–05) Quantum Key Distribution; Component Characterization: Characterizing Optical Components for QKD Systems (ETSI, 2016); https://go.nature.com/3NSUcoJ

  13. Liu, Y. et al. Nature 562, 548–551 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. van Deventer, O. et al. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.01622 (2022).

  15. Stein, F. et al. Metrologia 54, S1–S8 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Giblin, S. P. et al. Metrologia 57, 025013 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Bäuerle, C. et al. Rep. Prog. Phys. 81, 056503 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Mooij, J. E. & Nazarov, Y. V. Nat. Phys. 2, 169–172 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. de Graaf, S. E. et al. Nat. Phys. 14, 590–594 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Riehle, F. C. R. Phys. 16, 506–515 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Schulte, M., Lisdat, C., Schmidt, P. O., Sterr, U. & Hammerer, K. Nat. Commun. 11, 5955 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Wilpers, G., See, P., Gill, P. & Sinclair, A. G. Nat. Nanotechnol. 7, 572–576 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are members of the Technical Committee 25 — Quantum Measurement and Quantum Information — of the International Measurement Confederation, IMEKO.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, UK

    Alexander Tzalenchuk & Tim Prior

  2. Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK

    Alexander Tzalenchuk

  3. Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany

    Nicolas Spethmann

  4. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    Jay H. Hendricks & Barbara L. Goldstein

  5. National Institute of Metrology, Beijing, P. R. China

    Yijie Pan

  6. Measurement Standards Laboratory of New Zealand, Callaghan Innovation, Wellington, New Zealand

    Vladimir Bubanja

  7. The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Vladimir Bubanja

  8. Center for Telecommunication Studies, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Guilherme P. Temporão

  9. Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

    Dai-Hyuk Yu

  10. University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, Primary Electromagnetic Laboratory FER-PEL, Zagreb, Croatia

    Damir Ilić

Authors
  1. Alexander Tzalenchuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nicolas Spethmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tim Prior
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jay H. Hendricks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yijie Pan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Vladimir Bubanja
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Guilherme P. Temporão
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Dai-Hyuk Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Damir Ilić
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Barbara L. Goldstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander Tzalenchuk.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tzalenchuk, A., Spethmann, N., Prior, T. et al. The expanding role of National Metrology Institutes in the quantum era. Nat. Phys. 18, 724–727 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01659-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01659-z

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing