Licensing Opportunities for Quantum and Photonics Technologies
Quantum technology represents one of the most promising frontiers of modern science, potentially revolutionizing industries from computing to healthcare and beyond. At the University of Colorado, cutting-edge quantum research is not only advancing theoretical knowledge but also driving practical applications.
The university is at the forefront of this exciting field, leveraging its robust academic and research capabilities to push the boundaries of what quantum technologies can achieve. CU's focus on commercializing quantum research discoveries stems from a robust ecosystem of interdisciplinary collaboration that facilitates the transition from laboratory discoveries to market-ready technologies.
Most of our technologies that are available for licensing are not published online. Contact our licensing team to discuss opportunities and for information on our full portfolio of technologies.
Featured CU Quantum and Photonics Technologies
Mid-IR Optical Frequency Comb
Optical Frequency Combs are a Nobel Prize-winning technology developed at ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). They create infrared light to allow for molecular fingerprinting or substance identification. Current comb sources are restricted to wavelengths below 6 µm, which only allows for identifying certain molecules in a discrete spectrum. This technology allows for the theoretical identification of all molecules across the spectrum with greater precision and accuracy.
Researchers
Abijith Kowligy (), Alexander Lind (), Henry Timmers (), Scott Diddams (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering), Scott Papp (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics)
Patent Status
Issued US Patent
Recent Publications
(Optica)
Potential Industry Applications
Biotech, Environment and Sustainability, Cleantech, Smart Cities, Therapeutics, Diagnostics, Hardware and Instrumentation, Medical Devices, Optics, Quantum, Aerospace, Advanced Materials
Atomic Clocks—100% all-optical time scale
Atomic clocks are the current and future of geo-location applications. World-renowned physicist Jun Ye (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics, ) and his team have created a state-of-the-art atomic clock utilizing Nobel Prize-winning optical frequency combs. The invention is an all-optical time scale that operates entirely at optical frequency to provide greater accuracy and stability than any other current technology.
Latest Milestone
Estimated Time Error of 48±94 ps over 34 days
Researchers
Jun Ye (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics, ), Eric Oelker (), William Milner (), John Robinson (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics '22, ), Colin Kennedy (), Tobias Bothwell (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics '21, ), Khruv Kedar (), Terry Brown (; ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering)
Patent Status
Issued US Patent
Recent Publications
(Nature Photonics)
Potential Industry Applications
Biotech, Environment and Sustainability, Cleantech, Smart Cities, Hardware and Instrumentation, Optics, Quantum, Aerospace, Advanced Materials
Measurement and feedback on a superconducting qubit using casualty and tunable coupling
In quantum computing, accurately measuring qubit readouts is an ongoing problem. To address this quantum error correction problem, researchers at ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· and the University of Innsbruck have created a superconducting amplifier device comprising a parametric amplifier and a readout cavity external to the superconducting amplifier device. The tunable coupling allows an entangled signal to transfer from the readout cavity directly to the parametric amplifier with a single directionality.
Latest Milestone
Demonstrated viability without the need for a magnetic resonator
Researchers
Eric Rosenthal (), Konrad Lehnert (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics, ), Christian Schneider ()
Patent Status
US Issued Patent
Recent Publications
(APS)
Potential Industry Applications
Hardware and Instrumentation, Optics, Quantum
Quantum Quartz—Converting quantum signals through a quartz medium
Sound waves travel much slower than the speed of light. Therefore, engineers can achieve exciting signal processing in the acoustic domain if RF can effectively be converted to sound. Quartz is the best medium for this type of work in the quantum computing industry; however, there have been significant issues with finding the proper geometry of the material—until now.
Latest Milestone
Operative at temperatures below 10 K
Researchers
Alec Emser (), Konrad Lehnert (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics, ), Brendon Rose (), Lucas Sletten ()
Patent Status
US Patent Pending
Recent Publications
(ResearchGate)
Potential Industry Applications
Biotech, Manufacturing, Environment and Sustainability, Cleantech, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, Information Technology, Software, Cybersecurity, Diagnostics, Hardware and Instrumentation, Medical Devices, Optics, Robotics, Quantum, Aerospace, Advanced Materials
World’s first photonic mm-wave frequency synthesizer
The world’s first photonic millimeter wave frequency synthesizer utilizes the Nobel Prize-winning Optical Frequency Comb technology invented at ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· and NIST; this novel approach can create virtually any frequency (microwave to terahertz) in one device. Critical applications include LIDAR and spectroscopy, among others.
Latest Milestone
Integrated on chip
Researchers
Jizhao Zang (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics, ), Scott Papp (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics)
Patent Status
Issued US Patent
Recent Publications
(IEEE Xplore)
Potential Industry Applications
Environment and Sustainability, Smart Cities, Hardware and Instrumentation, Optics, Quantum, Aerospace
Environmentally robust, compact and inexpensive photonic resonator
Latest Milestone
>100,000 finesse
Researchers
Wei Zhang (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Chemistry), Liron Stern, Scott Papp (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· Physics)
Patent Status
US Patent Pending
Recent Publications
(Optica)
Potential Industry Applications
Hardware and Instrumentation, Optics, Quantum
Featured CU Quantum and Photonics Startups
Infleqtion is a quantum atomic company developing quantum computing, sensing and signal processing hardware.
Industry: Quantum, Hardware & Instrumentation
Funding Stage: Series B Round or beyond
Continuous methane emissions monitoring for the oil and gas industry that reduces data liability, relieves the risk of super emitters and delivers on voluntary and regulatory compliance frameworks.
Industry: Environment and Sustainability, Cleantech, Hardware and Instrumentation, Optics, Quantum
Funding Stage: Series A Round
Developing advanced chip-scale quantum sensing for next-generation position, navigation and timing capabilities.
Industry: Hardware and Instrumentation, Quantum, Aerospace, Advanced Materials, Robotics, Optics
Funding Stage: Seed Round
Based on semiconductor quantum dot technologies perfected over the past 30 years at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Icarus Quantum is developing the first of the building blocks of quantum internet.
Industry: Information Technology, Software, Cybersecurity​, Smart Cities, Hardware and Instrumentation, Optics, Quantum, Advanced Materials
Funding Stage: Series A Round
CU Quantum News
CUbit Quantum Initiative
The CUbit Quantum Initiative reinforces Colorado’s prominence in quantum information science and technology, partners with regional universities and laboratories, links closely with quantum-intensive companies, and serves a spectrum of local, regional and national interests, including workforce development.