Diffraqtion has raised $10 million to develop quantum imaging technology to enable spacecraft imagers to resolve information beyond conventional resolution limits. Credit: Diffraqtion
WASHINGTON — A startup has raised $10 million from investors that include Lockheed Martin and Sumitomo to advance technology for space cameras that promises to resolve details not possible with conventional systems.
Diffraqtion announced Aug. 31 it closed a pre-seed round involving Lockheed Martin Ventures and Presidio Ventures, the venture arm of Sumitomo Corp., among other investors. The company said strong interest led it to cap the pre-seed round.
The company, based in Somerville, Massachusetts, and spun out of work done at the University of Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is developing quantum cameras it says can get around the resolution limit of conventional cameras, known as the diffraction limit. That limit is a function of the wavelength of light and the diameter of the imager: To improve the resolution, one must use shorter wavelengths or larger apertures.
The diffraction limit “is just a limit that is imposed by the technique of direct imaging,” said Johannes Galatsanos, co-founder and chief executive of Diffraqtion, in an interview. “For a very long time, we have thought this is the limit.”
