Researchers Use 20th Century Radio Tech To Improve Modern Day Internet Security
By taking cue from the developments in quantum computing of the 20th century to build a quantum light that could better today's internet security technologies, the scientists from Stanford University have proven that it is sometimes fruitful to go back in time. The dynamics of quantum communication do not allow the use of standard lasers as these emit what is called ‘classical’ light. This classical light is severely prone to data eavesdropping; it allows easy extraction of data without detection.
Quantum internet would be based on quantum of data, i.e., small, fixed, packets of data. Here, a single unit of light, or a photon, cannot be measured without being destroyed. Thus, an efficient source of quantum light would enable perfectly secure communication.
A Gallium Arsenide chip - the pink vector below represents classical light. The Indium Arsenide filter in the center allows classical light to pass through, while also producing quantum light, shown in blue.
Jelena Vuckovic, professor of electrical engineering at Stanford has been working for years to develop nanoscale lasers and quantum technologies. Success here would mean replacement of electricity with light for transmission and faster communication between conventional computers.
Like everything else, quantum technology has it problems. Quantised light is much weaker than that coming from a modified laser, thus more difficult to detect. To combat this, the team of researchers created a filter to keep away unwanted light.
This filtering employs methods somewhat similar to noise-cancellation headphones – a sensor actively gauges the frequency of relatively constant ambient sound and produces a similar pattern, cancelling the undesirable sound. The unwanted light signals here would be analogous to noise.
In the 1930s, a technique was developed by radio engineers, it used interference patterns to cancel out unwanted signals. Vuckovic has resorted to this to close doors for unwanted light. By adjusting how the cancelling light and the classical light overlap, the quantum light surfaces. Vuckovic and many others regard this as a pathway to secure quantum communication for the years to come.
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Quantum internet would be based on quantum of data, i.e., small, fixed, packets of data. Here, a single unit of light, or a photon, cannot be measured without being destroyed. Thus, an efficient source of quantum light would enable perfectly secure communication.
A Gallium Arsenide chip - the pink vector below represents classical light. The Indium Arsenide filter in the center allows classical light to pass through, while also producing quantum light, shown in blue.
Like everything else, quantum technology has it problems. Quantised light is much weaker than that coming from a modified laser, thus more difficult to detect. To combat this, the team of researchers created a filter to keep away unwanted light.
This filtering employs methods somewhat similar to noise-cancellation headphones – a sensor actively gauges the frequency of relatively constant ambient sound and produces a similar pattern, cancelling the undesirable sound. The unwanted light signals here would be analogous to noise.
In the 1930s, a technique was developed by radio engineers, it used interference patterns to cancel out unwanted signals. Vuckovic has resorted to this to close doors for unwanted light. By adjusting how the cancelling light and the classical light overlap, the quantum light surfaces. Vuckovic and many others regard this as a pathway to secure quantum communication for the years to come.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#
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