China mass producing next-gen quantum radar detector to track aircraft like F-22

China announced it has begun mass producing the world’s first ultra-low noise, single-photon detector featuring four channels, suggesting that powerful applications loom in everything from daily communications to national defence.

Dubbed the “photon catcher”, the device can detect a single photon – the smallest unit of energy – making it a core component in cutting-edge technologies such as quantum communication and quantum radar for stealth aircraft detection and tracking.

The feat was achieved by the Quantum Information Engineering Technology Research Centre in Anhui province and reported last Friday by Science and Technology Daily, a publication of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

According to the newspaper, China, through its mass production, has achieved self-sufficiency and international leadership in the core components for quantum information technology.

A single-photon detector, as the name suggests, is an ultra-sensitive device capable of detecting individual photons.

The new detector could track stealth aircraft like F-22 Raptor fighter jets. Photo: US Department of Defence

When the human eye views an image, countless photons enter the eye simultaneously. Isolating just one photon has been described as akin to distinguishing the sound of a single grain of sand falling amid a thunderstorm.

South China Morning Post