Quantum Radar

Synopsis

Radar systems of some type have been in use in a wide variety of roles for nearly a century. Weather forecasting, geological survey, air traffic control, and other fields depend deeply on the use of high-quality radar remote sensing and imaging. Over this same time, many important technologies have seen an impressive boost in performance by integrating quantum mechanical effects. Only in the last twenty years, though, has research begun in full on the use of quantum effects in improving the abilities of Radar. Early work on such a system has made use of entangled photons and quantum illumination, the general premise being that one beam is sent out to the target, and another is kept at the source for detection. So far, there have been encouraging results in terms of sensitivity, uncertainty, and noise resiliency. However, there are still issues with range and required computing power for quantum radars. We will discuss the brief history of the quantum radar, the advantages and drawbacks of such a system compared to classical radars, and some promising recent developments.