Cryoclock ready for JORN deployment

QuantX Labs has reached a major milestone in the development of its flagship technology, the Sapphire Cryogenic Clock or Cryoclock for short.

Following nearly two years of work upgrades and improvements, the technology has passed through a full acceptance testing and is ready for inclusion into the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN).

JORN is a flagship Australian defence technology incorporating three over-the-horizon radar arrays that bounce signals off the ionosphere to detect air and sea movements across 37,000 square kilometres of the country’s northern approaches.

BAE Systems Australia is leading the Phase 6 upgrade of JORN, upgrading the system from analogue to digital and replacing most of its electronics.

The Adelaide company’s Sapphire Cryogenic Clock, developed over more than 30 years, shows a frequency instability that is equivalent to losing or gaining only one second every 40 million years. This is 100 times better than commercial atomic clocks over the relevant timescales.

From its facility at the Lot Fourteen innovation precinct in Adelaide’s CBD, QuantX Labs will now work with BAE Systems Australia that will see the Cryoclock deployed into the JORN system supporting significantly improved detection and sensitivity.

QuantX Labs Managing Director Professor Andre Luiten said: “It makes me incredibly proud to see leading-edge Australian research translated into technology that will make all Australians that little bit safer.

QuantX Labs General Manager Dr Martin O’Connor said that strong collaboration had been a driver of the technology’s latest success.

O’Connor said: “Every day I see our company work closely with university personnel, with other small defence companies, and with BAE Systems.

“It is this strong collaboration across the innovation pipeline that allows us to offer this breakthrough technology to the market.”

Picture: DefenceSA: Cyroclock’s precise time keeping will enhance JORN’s capability