Asi | Italian Space Agency

The Italian Space Agency and the National Institute of Optics of the CNR (CNR-INO) strengthen their scientific cooperation with the QASINO project: “ASI-CNR Joint Laboratories in the Quantum Technologies Sector“.

The aim of this initiative, which includes the agency’s program management, is to increase collaborative research activities in the sector of quantum technologies and space applications.

The project will be developed in different laboratories of CNR-INO at the Arcetri headquarters, the Sesto Fiorentino, Naples and Trieste divisions as well as in the “G. Colombo” laboratories of Matera of ASI.

The research lines of the joint laboratories include some of the most interesting topics in the field of advanced photonics and quantum technologies for space applications. Coherent sources will be studied and developed in the mid-infrared and THz spectral region, and will also be able to emit frequency combs for applications related, for example, to the study of radiation emitted by celestial bodies. In the field of quantum sensing, quantum sensors based on diamond color centers will be studied, capable of measuring electromagnetic fields and temperatures with very high accuracy. Finally, non-classical radiation sources, characterized by pressure or consisting of entangled photons, will be developed that can be used for quantum optical sensing and quantum communication.

The three-year project officially kicked off in Arcetri on 2 October with an inaugural meeting led by project managers Dr. Simone Burri and Dr. Mario Siciliani De Commis of CNR-INO and ASI respectively.

This cooperation will enhance interaction between the two institutions, and promote the growth of basic and applied research in the fields of advanced photonics and quantum technologies. Furthermore, special attention will be paid to dissemination and “exploration” activities in light of potential prototyping and industrial applications of the results.