Supplemental Equipment for Quantum-Secured Maritime Communication
Abstract
Approach: Quantum-secure communication in maritime environment can be realized in a number of different ways depending on the communication protocol that is employed. In the ONR-funded research, we focus on the concept of quantum illumination (QI) first proposed by one of us in 2009 [1]|in which Alice sends the signal beam from a parametric downconverter to Bob, while retaining the idler. Bob applies binary phase-shift keying to the signal beam, passes it through an optical amplifier, and returns it to Alice, who makes a joint measurement on the return beam and the idler. Unlike quantum key distribution (QKD), for which the vast majority of the transmitted bits are not received, every bit that is transmitted via QI is received with low error probability, hence making direct information transmission possible. This protocol s theoretically-predicted immunity to passive eavesdropping, in which Eve collects light lost in transmission from Alice to Bob and Bob to Alice, was verified by us in a 2013 fiber-optic experiment [2] that used an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) receiver [3]. Objective: The present proposal seeks funding to purchase four pieces of equipment to facilitate and enhance our current research in quantum-secured maritime communication: (i) a high-speed error detector unit for bit-error-rate measurements; (ii) an erbium-doped #fiber white-light source for generating broadband noise photons in QI communication; (iii) two tunable dispersion compensators to simulate dispersion in long-distance #fiber transmission; and (iv) a mid-IR beam profiler camera for characterizing mid-IR photon pair generation from nonlinear crystals. Naval Relevance: Secure communication in a maritime environment is an essential Navy operation. Under an ONR grant award # N00014-13-1-0774, Quantum-Secured Communication for the Maritime Environment," we aim to implement a novel high-rate quantum-secured direct communication protocol called quantum illumination for maritime operation at 1.55 #m, and investigate entanglement source and superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) technologies for use in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral region (3{5 #m wavelength).
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512734
Entities
People
- Franco Wong
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy