DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Air Force Seeks Impossible-to-Intercept Communications
5/1/2012
By Eric Beidel
By Eric Beidel

The Air Force has enlisted a group of researchers to create quantum memories based on the interaction between light and matter that would result in a new form of encryption that some experts have called “perfect.” Quantum systems provide a level of security far exceeding that of any cryptographic protocol currently known, experts say.
Led by a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology, researchers will look at three approaches for producing entangled quantum memories that could allow for long-distance transmission of secure information. The Air Force Office of
Scientific Research is funding the five-year, $8.5 million project.
“We aim to create large-scale systems that use entanglement for quantum communication and potentially also quantum computing,” says principal investigator Alex Kuzmich, a professor in Georgia Tech’s school of physics.

Challenges remain, including minimizing the loss of light as signals move through optical fiber systems used to transmit the entangled photons.
“Light is easily lost, and there’s not much that can be done about that from a fundamental physics standpoint,” Kuzmich says.
The optical equipment used in research also will have to be shrunk down to chip size for the commercial market.
Topics: C4ISR, Tactical Communications, Science and Engineering Technology
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