-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueLearning to Speak ‘Fab’
Our expert contributors clear up many of the miscommunication problems between PCB designers and their fab and assembly stakeholders. As you will see, a little extra planning early in the design cycle can go a long way toward maintaining open lines of communication with the fab and assembly folks.
Training New Designers
Where will we find the next generation of PCB designers and design engineers? Once we locate them, how will we train and educate them? What will PCB designers of the future need to master to deal with tomorrow’s technology?
The Designer of the Future
Our expert contributors peer into their crystal balls and offer their thoughts on the designers and design engineers of tomorrow, and what their jobs will look like.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Quantum Technologies: Bosch Aims to Use Sensors to Take a Leading Position
October 5, 2023 | Embedded PREstimated reading time: 3 minutes

Quantum technologies have great potential, but most of this potential is still a distant dream at present. Following ten years of research in this field, Bosch is now planning to work with the first pilot customers in the medical and mobility industries on specific applications over the next two years. At the startup Bosch Quantum Sensing, established at the beginning of 2022, some 30 associates are currently focusing on this. Bosch estimates the annual global market potential of applications for medicine and mobility will reach the mid-single-digit billions by the middle of the next decade. One potential area of application for quantum sensors, the brain-computer interface (BCI), will on its own be worth more than five billion dollars annually in the long term, according to the company’s calculations. One example of its future use is sensors that record nerve impulses in order to control artificial limbs and thus improve patients’ quality of life. “The quantum sensors we are creating in medical technology are a perfect fit for our ‘Invented for life’ ethos. By the end of the decade, we want to take a leading position with our technology,” says Dr. Stefan Hartung, chairman of the Bosch board of management.
Small is beautiful: Bosch is a leader in miniaturization
When it comes to size, the technology company is already a frontrunner: in terms of its measurement accuracy, the Bosch sensor prototype is the smallest currently available – about the size of a cell phone. Its compact design offers considerable advantages wherever space is at a premium – for example, in industrial applications, in vehicles, in aircraft, or even in hospital emergency rooms. The smaller the sensor, the greater the benefits: smaller sensors are portable, cheaper to produce, and more scalable as a result. “Our goal is to miniaturize quantum sensors to the point where they can be integrated onto a chip,” says Dr. Katrin Kobe, who is responsible for sensor commercialization at Bosch Quantum Sensing. This could lead the way to additional sensor applications.
Quantum sensors as potential lifesavers
In medicine, Bosch quantum sensors could help save lives in the future: by measuring the heart’s natural magnetic field and enabling simple measurements over a longer period of time, they can provide far more data than today’s electrocardiography (ECG). An ECG machine is applied directly to the skin by means of electrodes; if they slip, measurements are inaccurate. Moreover, in an emergency, attaching the ECG machine uses up precious time. Quantum sensors, by contrast, can be incorporated into things like items of clothing or mattresses. This not only speeds up diagnosis in the emergency room, but also makes monitoring at home easy and precise. The prospect of contactless early detection of atrial fibrillation – one of the causes of life-threatening strokes, heart failure, and dementia – is thus within reach for the first time. In other words, early diagnosis with the help of quantum sensors could, in the best case, lead to the prevention of fatal strokes.
Ultra-precise navigation in the air, on the road, and on water
In addition to medical technology, quantum sensors could also be used in mobility. One example is navigation. A global positioning system (GPS) is susceptible to interference, whereas quantum sensors are resistant to external influences, since they work by measuring the earth’s unchanging magnetic field. This paves the way for ultra-precise navigation in the air, on the road, and on water. There may also be scope for considerable additional benefits in electromobility. In the future, quantum sensors could be used there to precisely measure the magnetic field of the electric current and thus determine the exact charge level of the battery. The result would be more reliable determination of the remaining range, allowing trips to be planned better.
Suggested Items
Nokia, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies Partner with Numana to Advance Quantum-safe Networks
04/01/2025 | HoneywellNokia and Honeywell Aerospace Technologies announced a strategic partnership with Numana to advance Quantum-Safe Networks (QSN) in Montreal, Canada, and worldwide.
New Cryostatic Systems Elevate Current Research on Qubits
03/31/2025 | Fraunhofer IAFThe Center Nanoelectronic Technologies (CNT) at Fraunhofer IPMS has recently acquired new cryostats for the research on qubits and the qualification of superconducting systems.
Xanadu, Corning Sign Collaboration Agreement to Advance Fibre Interconnects for Photonic Quantum Computing
03/26/2025 | PRNewswireXanadu, a leading photonic quantum computing company, and Corning Incorporated, the global leader in fibre, cable and connectivity, will collaborate to develop customized fibre and fibre-array solutions to enable low-loss networking of photonic quantum computing chips.
ULVAC Developing Next-Generation Dilution Refrigerator for Quantum Computing by 2026
03/24/2025 | ACN NewswireULVAC, Inc. and ULVAC CRYOGENICS INC. announced that they are developing a next-generation dilution refrigerator for quantum computers with imput from IBM.
VTT, IQM Launch First 50-qubit Quantum Computer Developed in Europe
03/04/2025 | VTT Technical Research Centre of FinlandVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and IQM Quantum Computers, one of the global leaders in superconducting quantum computers, have completed and launched Europe’s first 50-qubit superconducting quantum computer, now open to researchers and companies through the VTT QX quantum computing service.