Quantum Communication Breakthrough: UIUC researchers Achieve Telecom-Band Entanglement
in a significant step toward realizing the vision of quantum networks, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) research team has achieved a critical breakthrough.
Quantum communication relies on entanglement, a phenomenon where particles remain linked over distance, but standard atom-based systems use light wavelengths that degrade when transmitted over long-distance optical fibers.
Their new work successfully used an array of ytterbium-171 atoms too generate entangled photons directly in the telecom-band wavelength.
According to researchers, the innovative approach promises to bypass the efficiency loss and signal disruptions previously caused by converting light, paving the way for faster, safer, and more robust global quantum communication.
"By imaging the atom array onto an optical fibre array, we also implement a parallelized networking protocol that can increase the remote entanglement rate proportionately with the number of channels," said the team in the research abstract.