Scientists improve quantum teleportation with nanophotonics

As the advances in the quantum field continue, scientists have made a massive leap forward in teleportation – though not for people, but for information – called quantum teleportation, which is the basics for super-fast, super-secure communication.

Indeed, a team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has developed a novel nanophotonic platform that significantly enhances the efficiency and fidelity of quantum information transfer, sharing their process in the journal Physical Review Letters.

As it happens, quantum teleportation, which refers to the transmission of quantum states from one location to another without moving the physical particles themselves, has traditionally relied on linear optics that have strict limitations on photon quality and measurement accuracy.

Bypassing limitations in quantum teleportation

However, with the recent breakthrough, scientists have broken through those limitations using nonlinear nanophotonics. Specifically, the team introduced a nanophotonic platform built from indium-gallium-phosphide, a semiconductor material capable of efficient nonlinear optical interactions.

At its core is a nanophotonic cavity that enables nonlinear Bell state measurements, a crucial process in quantum teleportation that determines the shared entangled state between two particles. As Kejie Fang, an Illinois professor of electrical and computer engineering and the project lead, explained:

“Our nonlinear system transmits quantum information with 94% fidelity, compared to the theoretical limit of 33% on systems using linear optical components. (…) This alone demonstrates the power of quantum communication with nonlinear optics. The big problem to solve is efficiency. By using a nanophotonic platform, we saw the efficiency increase by enough to show that the technology is promising.”

At the same time, the team demonstrated successful teleportation of time-bin encoded photons with different spectra, something previously unattainable using linear optics, which require photons to be virtually identical. This added flexibility has opened the door to more scalable, real-world quantum communication systems.

Elsewhere, a team of scientists at Q-CTRL in Sydney, Australia have recently unveiled an innovative quantum-based navigation system called ‘Ironstone Opal’ that is 50 times more precise than traditional GPS, with massive implications for multiple industries.