New approach for space-borne quantum technologies brings global quantum networking closer
Researchers at Strathclyde Physics, together with collaborators at Humboldt University in Berlin, propose the use of single satellites equipped with long-duration quantum memories to shuttle entanglement across the world, facilitating the quantum internet. This work was performed as part of the UK Quantum Communications Hub, of which Strathclyde is a partner on the upcoming SPOQC CubeSat mission.
Daniel Oi (Strathclyde), who helped lead this work and is also Director of the EPSRC International Network in Space Quantum Technologies, said: “Satellites will provide crucial links in the global quantum internet. This new method greatly simplifies the logistics of creating quantum connections between widely spread locations.”
The lead author of the study, Mustafa Gündoğan from HU Berlin, adds: “In this work, we combined two separate paradigms in quantum information science for the first time: quantum repeater behaviour and the physical transportation of qubits, which resulted in potential improvements by many orders of magnitude over existing protocols.”
This research has been published in Optica Quantum:
Mustafa Gündoǧan, Jasminder S. Sidhu, Markus Krutzik, and Daniel K. L. Oi, “Time-delayed single satellite quantum repeater node for global quantum communications,” Optica Quantum 2, 140-147 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICAQ.517495
May 2024