Grants and Contributions

Development of a complete robotic assembly station, including alignment, bonding, and quality control of TO-46 laser diodes with a lens

The project develops and demonstrates a Canadian quantum optical ground station with a Photonic Adaptive Optics System on Chip (AOSoC) for efficient free-space to fiber coupling for quantum communication internetworking. The AOSoC will be integrated into a compact optical ground station with telescope optics and fiber-based quantum output to support continuous-variable and time-bin entangled photon links. The research will characterize system performance, including phase stability, coupling efficiency, and entanglement visibility, under laboratory and field conditions. Ultimately, the project will establish a national space-to-ground, and ground-to-ground quantum communication demonstration platform for long-range quantum internetworking based on the NRC-ARTEMIS ground station to advance a commercial solution for secure, scalable quantum communication infrastructure and components for Canada.

Scale manufacturing in BC of quantum light sources for commercial applications

Develop a semiconductor technology platform that adds optical amplification to silicon photonic chips.

Funding under the Innovator Stream will support continued research and development of solutions under National Defence’s Funding for Canadian Innovators and Accelerators of DIANA (FCIA-DIANA) program.

Phantom Photonics aims to democratize underwater data access to improve safety, sustainability, and infrastructure management. Their focus includes preventing failures in oil and gas systems, safeguarding underwater cables, and supporting marine ecological studies. To achieve this, the Project will develop a quantum LiDAR system for Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASVs), offering high-resolution 3D imaging with SONAR-like range and LiDAR-level precision. The system will be commercialized via a Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) model for scalable, autonomous monitoring. A key goal is building a rugged, waterproof prototype integrating Phantom’s time-bin encoded quantum LiDAR, optimized for low-light and turbid conditions. Engineering efforts include pressure-resistant housing, quantum emitter integration, and embedded electronics for real-time control. Edge computing will enable onboard data processing, reducing communication needs and enhancing fleet coordination. In collaboration with NRC’s Computer Vision and Graphics (CVG) team, image analysis systems will be developed to enhance current sensor technology and to take advantage of the rapidly developing large visual and multimodal models to solve relevant problems such as motion detection, tracking as well as object recognition in challenging underwater environments.

CQCP: Development of a scalable and useful Canadian quantum computing platform

“As part of the international consortium project “UAPM”, this project will focus on developing next-generation underwater quantum LiDAR for monitoring and securing subsea assets. It targets structural decay of oil and gas installations, environmental impact of offshore infrastructure, and protection of communication cables from sabotage. Led by Phantom Photonics (Canada) and RUPHOS (Germany), the system combines SONAR-like range with optical resolution, enabling precise, frequent data collection. This breakthrough supports predictive maintenance, environmental compliance, and security for operators of energy and telecom assets.

We are making a fibered, as opposed to free-space architecture for the receiver subsystem to accommodate our LiDAR being submerged underwater for the next generation of applications. So far, we've been working air-to-water which incurs a lot of signal loss from surface reflections, now we're ready to go fully underwater.

Development of a robotic platform specialized in the assembly of fiber optic networks (fiber arrays) with integrated photonic circuits (PICs).