Technology effort seeks testbeds to rapidly evaluate components for quantum systems
Jun 13, 2025
Breakthroughs in quantum technologies for computing, sensing, and communications can take decades to transition from laboratory to real-world use. This is, in part, due to the need for extensive laboratory setups to maintain the highly delicate quantum states of atoms, which very quickly lose coherence (i.e., their “quantumness”) when disturbed by the slightest interference of sound, heat, or light.
Advances in chip-scale electronics — such as nanophotonic lasers (fractions of a millimeter in size), compact high-speed cameras, and feedback circuitry — could potentially replace today’s large, expensive lab equipment, enabling faster development of low size, weight, and power quantum devices. A major roadblock, however, is the inability to test and certify the performance of these miniaturized technologies against their quantum laboratory counterparts.
DARPA’s Optical-Atomic System Integration & Calibration (OASIC) program, a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) effort, aims to develop advanced quantum testbeds that rapidly test, evaluate, and prototype integrated chip-scale quantum technologies for practical use. These state-of-the-art quantum testing centers are envisioned as fee-based facilities open to any users in the technical community to evaluate their components against the best laboratory-based quantum bits (qubits), quantum sensors, and atomic clocks.
Major universities, national labs, and large private companies that own advanced quantum research facilities are focused on their own research and intellectual property; supporting startups testing novel microelectronic or nanophotonic components is not their main priority. Compounding the issue, most dedicated and high-performance quantum research facilities are not designed in a modular fashion, making it difficult to integrate and benchmark miniaturized components against bulky, sensitive lab-scale systems.
“I would ask startups and small companies who came to me promoting the capabilities of their new lasers, ‘Can you benchmark this laser’s performance against the world’s most precise atomic clocks?’” said Mukund Vengalattore, the program manager overseeing OASIC at DARPA. “Of course, they would say they can’t, and researchers in advanced quantum labs would not dream of taking a component from some random company and plugging it into their exquisitely configured lab to see how it performs. If somebody, on the other hand, brought a laser to a quantum laboratory and said, ‘Look, this compact laser is actually better than your optical table-sized, million-dollar laser. I know this because I have used this laser to build a clock and tested it against a state-of-the-art atomic clock and here's the result,’ then they would grab it with both hands!”
Seal of Approval
Just as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Underwriters Laboratory provide recognized standards and certification for technology performance, security, and safety, OASIC aims to do the same for certifying nanophotonic, optoelectronic, and electronic components used in chip-scale quantum devices. The goal is for an OASIC certification to become the recognized seal of approval for optical-atomic component performance.
“At NIST facilities, businesses can test and certify components like a microwave source, for example, or an RF probe or an antenna, before bringing it to market,” Vengalattore said. “We envision OASIC as providing similar services to atom-based quantum technologies and the large range of enabling components that are needed to bring such technologies to the next level.”
Such certification would help the Defense Department identify which quantum components are ready for integration into defense systems, streamlining tech evaluations and reducing cost, time, and uncertainty for both companies and government stakeholders.
Lego-like modularity
To enable a variety of users to test different components for quantum applications, OASIC facilities must be quickly reconfigurable.
It can take months to reconfigure the set-up in a university, government, or company quantum research laboratory to conduct new tests. OASIC quantum test facilities, on the other hand, will be extremely modular, almost Lego-like, to speed up the testing and evaluation process. The goal is to enable swapping out of individual components for performance testing as easily as swapping out different Lego bricks.
“Water cooler” effect
The OASIC testbeds also aim to bring various areas of expertise together to speed up quantum tech development. As companies bring their components for verification and validation, DARPA aims to build bridges between technology areas that don’t normally come together.
“OASIC is not just about helping small companies, it’s also about enabling quantum technology to become more integrated, more robust, and more transitionable,” Vengalattore said. “The testbeds will act as a water cooler in a quantum ecosystem. Engineering folks who know nothing about quantum get to come there and say, ‘I have some lasers here that you can test’ and have the quantum experts come in and say, ‘You know, this laser could work much better if it had less intensity noise and here's how much less intensity noise it needs to have before this laser becomes a viable laser for our applications.’”
Testbed teams can also relay critical needs from quantum users, such as better high-speed optical modulators, to the right enabling tech companies. Likewise, a large contractor might approach the facility with a suitcase-sized quantum prototype and find component experts to help shrink it to a practical, tablet-sized form.
OASIC aims to create a vibrant ecosystem where people with solutions and those with needs can meet in the same room.
Self-sustaining business model
For OASIC testbeds to succeed, they must be self-sustaining, which is why DARPA chose a STTR program that requires partnerships between universities and small businesses.
“Critical to OASIC’s success are companies that will proactively pursue customers, rather than relying on an, ‘if you build it, they will come’ mentality,” said Jen Thabet, director of DARPA’s Small Business Programs Office. “The STTR structure is ideal here, because it pairs universities with cutting-edge quantum labs and small businesses capable of building strong commercialization plans, hiring staff, focusing on customers, and ultimately making the testbeds profitable. DARPA’s small business efforts are focused on ensuring our revolutionary technologies become commercially viable, and OASIC has tremendous potential to accelerate the quantum tech market for both commercial and national security applications.”
OASIC Timeline
The OASIC STTR launched in early 2024 with a six-month first phase in which three small business- university teams were selected to develop technical and commercial plans. Each team will manage an OASIC testbed focused respectively on qubits, sensors, and atomic clocks:
- The qubits testbed, located in Boston, is being led by QuEra, Harvard University, MIT, and University of Montana.
- The quantum sensors testbed team comprises Rydberg Technologies, University of Michigan, and Purdue University, with location in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- The atomic clock testbed team consists of Vector Atomic and the University of Colorado, with sites in Boulder, Colorado, and Pleasanton, California.
In April, DARPA kicked off the two-year second phase of the program. During this phase the three OASIC teams will build their testbeds and conduct demonstrations.
A third and final phase is anticipated to focus on providing a contracting mechanism for wide-ranging testbed access. This would enable DARPA performers working on quantum sensing, quantum computing, and atomic clock component technologies — as well as other military and government labs seeking independent verification and validation of quantum technologies — to seamlessly request and receive support from the OASIC testbeds.
The vision is to create the equivalent of quantum university-affiliated research centers (UARCs), which have established, streamlined processes to pay for testing and evaluation support.
For any business that hasn’t worked with DARPA or even the federal government but has a potentially transformational idea – quantum or otherwise, DARPAConnect offers a full suite of tools for engaging with the agency.
Further information about STTR programs can be found on DARPA’s Small Business Programs Office (SBPO) page.