Researchers achieve consistent, high-fidelity quantum teleportation

A viable quantum Internet – a network in which information stored in quits is shared over long distances – will transform the field of data storage, precision sensing and computing, entering a new era of communication.

This month, U.S. affiliated with the University of Chicago. Scientists from the department’s Energy National Laboratory – Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, along with partners from five organizations, took an important step towards realizing quantum internet.

In a paper published in PRX Quantum, the team demonstrates for the first time the durable, long-distance telepotation of quits made of photons (particles of light) with a fidelity of more than 90%.

Quits were teleported to a 27-mile (44-kilometer) fiber-optic network, using state-of-the-art single-photon detectors, as well as off-the-shelf devices.

“We are thrilled with these results,” said Fermilab scientist Panagiotis Spentzoris, head of the Fermilab quantum science program and one of the co-authors of the paper. “This is a major achievement in the way technology is built that will redefine how global communications will operate.”

U.S. at a press conference at the University of Chicago. The achievement comes just months after the Department of Energy unveiled its blueprint for the national quantum internet.

Connecting particles

Quantum telepotation is the “rejection” of the transfer of quantum states from one place to another. Quantum teleportation of qubits is achieved using quantum entanglement, in which two or more particles are vaguely connected to each other. If a trapped pair of particles is divided between two different locations, the encoded information is teleported, despite the distance between them.

Researchers from a joint team – Fermilab, AT&T, Caltech, Harvard University, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Calgary – have successfully used telephone systems on two systems: the Quantum Quantum Network and the Fermilab Quantum Network. Systems were designed, built, operated, and configured by Intelligent Quantum Networks and Technologies, or IN-Q-Net, through Caltech’s public-private research program.

“We are very proud of this achievement on sustainable, high-performance and scalable quantum teleportation systems,” said Maria Spiropulu, Caltech’s professor of physics and director of the IN-Q-NET research program. “The results will be further improved with the system upgrades we expect by the second quarter of 2021.”

Both Teletalk and Formilab are compatible with both network, featuring nearby autonomous data processing, existing telecommunications infrastructure and filling quantum processing and storage devices. Researchers emphasizing complex quantum communication protocols and basic sciences are using them to improve diffusion trends and attitudes.

“With this demonstration we are starting the construction of the Chicago-area metropolitan quantum network,” Spentzouris said.

The Chicagoland Network, also known as the Illinois Express Quantum Network, is built by Fermilab in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory, Caltech, Northwestern University and industry partners.

“This feat is a testament to the success of collaborations across disciplines and institutions, which leads to something we achieve in science,” said Ly Licken, deputy director of the Firmilab research division. “I commend the IN-Q-NET team and our partners in academia and industry for this first-of-its-kind achievement in quantum teleportation.