Advancing Quantum Communications using Next-Generation Optical Fibre

使用下一代光纤推进量子通信

• 批准号: 2742638
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Cambridge
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2742638
• 关键词: Advancing; Quantum; Communications; using; Next

Secure communication technologies are the backbone of today's digital economy yet the security of current cryptographic tools, which are applied to protect global communications travelling across a network of optical fibre, is based on 'computational complexity'. This assumes an eavesdropper has limited computational resources to break complex mathematical problems. This assumption is invalidated in the coming quantum computing era and thus, urgent action is needed to ensure the continued security of our communication systems.Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a rapidly maturing technology that solves this problem by distributing secret digital keys using quantum light. As a frontier technology, the development of QKD systems is inherently multidisciplinary. This requires the careful fusion of quantum physics, high-speed electronics, low-loss photonics and high-performance software to generate, manipulate and measure light.While QKD has already been successfully deployed to many optical networks worldwide, this has always employed "standard" single-mode telecommunication fibre. Recently, there has been great progress in the development of nextgeneration optical fibres, using novel physical designs to achieve very different optical guidance characteristics. Such geometries include hollow-core and fewmode fibres, which offer many advantages for optical communications. This enables, for example, spatial division multiplexing to enhance the classical datacarrying capacity of fibre and reduction of nonlinear and dispersive effects, as well as reduced latency. Such new fibres could also offer many benefits for quantum communications, but these have yet to be explored.A PhD project based at Toshiba Europe Ltd is available to perform pioneering research into the development of quantum communication systems that exploit next-generation optical fibres. The project will commence with detailed optical characterisation of new types of optical fibres, measuring various linear and onlinear optical phenomena with a focus on how these affect the interaction between classical and quantum light signals. The candidate will then play a leading role in the experimental development of full QKD systems, designing, building and characterising optical transmitter and receiver modules to be connected by new types of optical fibre. This will involve extensive experimental research, combining both high-speed optical and electronic devices, in addition to developing control software. It is expected that the candidate will develop broad expertise with semiconductor lasers, short-pulse generation, optical modulation, high-speed RF electronics, linear and nonlinear fibre optics, quantum photonics, and single-photon photodetection. There are also opportunities for theoretical work to simulate and optimise optical systems and the underlying quantum communication protocols.

安全的通信技术是当今数字经济的骨干，但是当前的加密工具的安全性（用于保护跨光纤网络中的全球通信）的安全性基于“计算复杂性”。假设窃听者的计算资源有限，可以打破复杂的数学问题。在即将到来的量子计算时代，此假设是无效的，因此需要紧急行动以确保我们的通信系统的持续安全性。Quantum密钥分布（QKD）是一种快速成熟的技术，可以通过使用量子光分发秘密数字键来解决此问题。作为前沿技术，QKD系统的开发本质上是多学科的。这需要仔细融合量子物理学，高速电子，低损失光子学和高性能软件，以生成，操纵和测量光。尽管QKD已经成功地部署到了全球许多光学网络，但它一直使用“标准”单模式电信纤维。最近，使用新颖的物理设计来实现非常不同的光学指导特征，在下一代光纤的开发中取得了长足的进步。这样的几何形状包括空心核和几码纤维，这些纤维为光学通信提供了许多优势。例如，这使得空间分级多路复用能够增强纤维的经典数据和降低非线性和分散效应的能力，以及延迟的延迟。这种新的纤维也可以为量子通信提供许多好处，但是这些纤维尚未探索。位于东芝欧洲有限公司的博士项目可用于对开发利用下一代光纤的量子通信系统的开发进行开创性研究。该项目将从新型的光纤类型的详细光学表征开始，测量各种线性和ONLILINAR光学现象，重点是这些如何影响经典光信号之间的相互作用。然后，候选人将在完整QKD系统的实验开发中发挥领导作用，设计，构建和表征要通过新型的光纤连接的光学发射器和接收器模块。除了开发控制软件之外，这还将涉及广泛的实验研究，还将高速光学设备和电子设备结合在一起。预计候选人将通过半导体激光器，短脉冲产生，光学调制，高速RF电子，线性和非线性光纤光学元件，量子光子量和单光子光检测来发展广泛的专业知识。理论工作也有机会模拟和优化光学系统和基础量子通信协议。