VCSEL-Powered NMR Gyroscope Ready for Space Navigation
The QYRO project is developing a compact quantum sensor for precise satellite navigation
Within the QYRO project, the consortium has successfully qualified 795 nm VCSELs as pump-and-probe laser sources for an NMR gyroscope designed to enable compact and energy-efficient navigation in space. A VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) system functions as a compact, energy-efficient light source that emits perpendicular to the chip surface, making it ideal for high-precision sensor technology such as NMR gyroscopes. VCSELs offer high optical efficiency, low mass and stable, narrow-band emission for long-term use in space. In addition, the system achieved the same performance as larger DFB reference modules in sensitivity tests. The final flight models are scheduled to be used in 2027 as part of a DLR CubeSat mission.
The QYRO project ("Kernspin-basierte Quantengyroskope für New Space Anwendungen") is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. Project partners are Arda Atomics GmbH (spin-off from Trumpf, formerly Q.ANT), the Ferdinand Braun Institute (FBH), TRUMPF, the Galileo Competence Center of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and Bosch Research.