I-Corps: Quantum Hardware Package for FUlly-Secure Long-Distance Data Transfer

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to translate quantum communication technological breakthroughs into real-life applications. This goal will bring significant social and economic impacts as quantum communication has the potential to revolutionize the global telecommunication industry. Commercially, this vision provides countless opportunities to interact with a broad spectrum of entities such as telecom companies, financial firms, defense agencies and banking corporations. It is predicted that advanced quantum technologies driven by quantum information processing will revolutionize traditional communication methods by enabling the ultimate security for the transmission of cryptography keys, based on the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics which facilitate detecting any eavesdropping attempt on the encoded key. This I-Corps project is devoted to developing portable modular hardware necessary to build a protected cryptographic network immune to known attacks. This technology is designed to overcome the main challenge of operation over extended distances of thousands of kilometers, as required to establish secure communication networks between cities and countries. The team has successfully designed and built commercialization-friendly quantum devices including quantum light sources, characterization units, and quantum memories aimed to store and transform quantum information in a manner needed for secure communication. These devices are room temperature operational and do not require cumbersome and expensive infrastructure, thus being ready for outside of the laboratory operation. This quantum toolbox is currently being used in different international locations as a test-bed of important capabilities, such as entanglement distribution, ultrafast operations, and satellite communication compatibility.