Free-Space Quantum Communication with a Portable Quantum Memory
Mehdi Namazi, Giuseppe Vallone, Bertus Jordaan, Connor Goham, Reihaneh Shahrokhshahi, Paolo Villoresi, Eden Figueroa · Physical Review Applied · 2017
A key element to realize secure, long-distance quantum communication is a device capable of storing and synchronizing quantum data without jeopardizing the security of the network. The size of and resources needed to build a quantum memory has held this technology back---until now. The authors send randomly polarized photons through a free-space channel, receive them with a portable quantum memory, store them, and finally read them out. They show that the data encoded in the photons remain fully protected throughout. This prototype quantum network using cost-efficient, room-temperature quantum memory could become the backbone of global quantum-communication protocols.