Engineers at Northwestern University havedemonstratedquantum teleportation over a fiber optic cable already carrying Internet traffic.
It also has major implications for the field of advanced sensing technologies and quantum computing applications.
Unlike traditional communication methods, quantum teleportation does not require the physical transmission of particles.
Instead, it relies on entangled particles exchanging information over great distances.
“Our work shows a path towards next-generation quantum and classical networks sharing a unified fiber optic infrastructure.
Basically, it opens the door to pushing quantum communications to the next level.”
However, Kumar and his team were able to devise a solution.
They also implemented special filters to reduce noise from regular Internet traffic.
They simultaneously transmitted quantum information and high-speed Internet traffic through the cable.
The results showed that the quantum information was successfully transmitted, even in the presence of busy internet traffic.
Looking ahead, Kumar and his team have plans to extend their experiments over longer distances.
“Quantum teleportation has the ability to provide quantum connectivity securely between geographically distant nodes,” Kumar said.
“But many people have long assumed that nobody would build specialized infrastructure to send particles of light.
If we choose the wavelengths properly, we won’t have to build new infrastructure.
Classical communications and quantum communications can coexist.”
