Researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a quantum communication chip that is 1,000 times smaller than current quantum setups, but offers the same superior security quantum technology is known for.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a quantum communication technology that promises unconditional communication security. High-performance and cost-effective QKD systems are essential for the establishment of quantum communication networks.
By integrating all the optical components (except the laser source) on a silicon photonic chip, the team has realized a stable, miniaturized and low-cost system for continuous-variable QKD (CV-QKD) that is compatible with the existing fibre optical communication infrastructure.
The integrated silicon photonic chip is demonstrated for CV-QKD. It implements the widely studied Gaussian-modulated coherent state protocol that encodes continuous distributed information on the quadrature of laser light.
Roughly 3mm in size, the tiny chip developed by NTU scientists uses quantum communication algorithms to provide enhanced security compared to existing standards. By integrating all the optical components (except the laser source) on a silicon chip, they have realized a stable, miniaturized and low-cost system for continuous-variable QKD (CV-QKD) that is compatible with the existing fibre optical communication infrastructure.
Their proof-of-principle chip-based CV-QKD system is capable of producing a secret key rate of 0.14 kbps (under collective attack) over a simulated distance of 100 km in fibre, offering new possibilities for low-cost, scalable and portable quantum networks.
The paper has been published in Nature Photonics.
