Quantum internet inches closer thanks to new chip — it helps beam quantum signals over real-world fiber optic cables
Scientists have sent quantum signals to standard optical fiber cables using the same connectivity that feeds today’s web, in what could be a major step towards a functional quantum internet.
In a study published on August 28 in the journal ScienceThe researchers used a tailor -made quantum chip to wrap quantum data alongside a standard optical signal and transmit it on a commercial infrastructure.
“Unlike previous experiences that required isolated and laboratory -based configurations or a specialized infrastructure, this approach incorporates quantum communication in real world networks for the first time”, author of the Senior Study Liang FengProfessor of science of materials and electrical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, told Live Science in an email.
“Our chip Q makes it possible to control quantum signals and conventional signals, so they travel together on the same fiber optic cables, using standard Internet protocols.”
Why can’t internet send quantum data?
Quantum data is transported by quit – Basic units of quantum information. Unlike conventional computer bits, which are represented as 0 or 1, qubits can exist in a overlap of the two states.
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Qubits can also become tangleThis means that the state of one is symbiotically linked to the state of another, whatever their distance. These properties allow Quantum computers To carry out calculations far beyond the scope of conventional computers – in parallel rather than in sequence.
However, these same properties also make quantum data notoriously fragile. Quantum collapse when observed or measured, which makes quantum information extremely difficult to work. In the classic Internet, traffic is led by routers that read and interpret information when they travel to the network. This cannot be done with quantum particles without destroying the data itself transmitted, because the superposition collapses as soon as it is observed.
How does Q-Chip work
The chip Q, which means “quantum-classic hybrid internet by photonics”, takes up this challenge by associating each quantum signal with a classic “header”-a data packet containing routing and synchronization information which is encoded in an optical fiber pulse.
As this information moves into the network, it is inspected by routers – devices that direct internet traffic by reading information on packets and transmitting it to the right destination. The routers use the header to determine where the data should go and how to do it.
By timing the classic and quantum signals to travel together in a synchronized impulse, the chip allows routers to read the navigation information of the header without interacting with or disturbing the quantum signal. This allows both to travel together via standard IP protocols.
While researchers have previously demonstrated that quantum data can be Transmitted to standard optical fiber cablesincluding alongside Classic data in the same wavelength stripThis last study marks the first time that quantum signals have been transmitted using a standard IP on live and real world infrastructure.
This is crucial because it avoids the need for a separate quantum network, considerably reducing the barrier to deployment and Failure of a quantum internetsaid Feng.
“The use of standard IP protocols means that quantum chip Q makes it possible to manage quantum communication as a regular internet traffic with the tools already developed for routing, resolution and coordination,” he told Live Science.
“By attaching” classic “headers to quantum data, the Chip Q can transport and manage quantum signals using conventional classic devices, systems and infrastructure developed without disturbing delicate quantum states, making it the first practical demonstration of quantum communication which is part of the existing internet architecture. “”
To test the system, the team has established a simple connection between a server and a receiver node, using a section of 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of commercial fibers operated by the telecommunications company Verizon.
Since the classic header and the quantum signal respond to environmental interferences in a similar way, the team could use the classic signal to correct noise without disturbing the quantum state. This allowed data to reach its intact destination.
While the configuration of the pilot was small, the researchers think that it marks a fundamental step towards a large -scale quantum internet which could connect quantum devices – especially since the Q chip is made of silicon and manufactured using existing processes, which means that it can be produced in mass.
“Over the next 5 to 10 years, the first stages of a quantum internet will probably focus on local networks and / or quantum internet on a metropolitan scale,” feng at Live Science. “Applications [could include] Secure communication, interconnection of quantum computers and distributed quantum detection such as navigation or ultra-capital calendar. “”
