We are happy to announce the successful launch of the EU-funded project AMADEUS (Advancing the MArket uptake of Diamond dEfects qUantum Sensors). It started on October 1, 2022 and it will last for three years. AMADEUS is an industry-oriented consortium involving large companies, RTOs, SME’s and academic partners. The project targets the market uptake of quantum sensors exploiting Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centres in ultrapure diamond crystals, one of the most promising and market-ready technology of quantum sensing. NV centres in diamond is the core element for robust quantum sensing with unprecedented compactness, which enables disruptive technologies for a variety of applications ranging from novel tools for semiconductor industry to novel ways to measure and analyse brain functions.

Project goals

AMADEUS capitalises on the preceding EU-funded project ASTERIQS, in which the NV-based technology was developed to TRL 4-5 in the ramp-up phase of the Quantum Flagship. Within the AMADEUS project, four advanced applications of this technology will be pursued up to TRL 6-7 to answer societal and economical needs:

• a real-time cartography of the RF signal frequencies in 5G communication cellular networks and further 6G, enabling self-optimizing networks in dense area;
• a tool to the semiconductor industry for 2D/3D non-invasive analysis of defects in microelectronic circuits at room temperature and in standard environment;
• a sensor for monitoring the muscle and brain activity as novel medical diagnostic tool or as brain-machine interface in the future; 
• a multipurpose tool for monitoring magnetic fields in harsh environments, like space applications or detecting transient currents in electric car batteries.

Fraunhofer IAF's contribution

The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF is a RTO in the multidisciplinary AMADEUS consortium and one of the leading research institutions worldwide in the field of III-V semiconductors and diamond technology. The technical contribution of Fraunhofer IAF is the development of ultra-pure, isotopically enriched diamond as well as NV-doped diamond, which will be provided to the partners of the consortium. Technological developments for highest sensor performance are one of the main objectives to realize a wide-field imager for electronic circuit analysis.