Researchers have demonstrated new chip-based devices that contain all the optical components necessary for quantum key distribution while increasing real-world security. The fast and cost-effective platform is poised to facilitate implementation of extremely secure data communication that can be used to protect everything from emails to online banking information.
Advances in computing technology will soon leave today’s methods for encrypting online data vulnerable to eavesdropping. Quantum key distribution offers impenetrable encryption by using the quantum properties of light to generate secure random keys between users for encrypting and decrypting their online data. Although quantum key distribution is compatible with most fiber-optic networks, more robust and less expensive devices are needed to carry out this encryption method outside the lab.
In Optica, The Optical Society’s (OSA) journal for high-impact research, the researchers report that secure quantum key exchange can be accomplished between two chip-based devices — measuring just 6 x 2 millimeters — potentially over a fiber network with links up to 200 kilometers long.
«Chip-based devices significantly reduce the barrier for widespread uptake of quantum-secured communication by providing a robust, mass-manufacturable platform,» said research team leader Henry Semenenko from the University of Bristol, UK. «In the future, these devices will form part of a standard household connection to the internet that keeps our data secure regardless of advances in computing technology.»
Reducing size and power needs
The new quantum key distribution devices are based on the same semiconductor technology found in every smartphone and computer. Instead of wires to guide electricity, they contain highly complex circuits that control the weak photonic signals of light necessary for quantum key distribution. Nanoscale components in the chips make it possible to drastically reduce the size and power consumption of quantum communication systems while maintaining high-speed performance vital for modern networks.
Story Source: Materials provided by The Optical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.