The first demonstration of quantum communications through special optical fibers, called multi-core, has been successfully conducted.
It was created by an international research group coordinated by Davide Bacco, of the University of Florence, and with the collaboration of the University of L'Aquila, the National Institute of Optics of the National Research Council and the Italian company Quantum Telecommunications Italy.
The experiment is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Quantum technologies promise to also revolutionize the world of communications, guaranteeing total security and efficiency in the exchange of information, but to become reality some technical difficulties must also be overcome.
One of these is the need to improve the speed of generating cryptographic keys, currently lower than that offered by traditional telecommunications systems, especially fiber optics.
"This limits not only the use by users, but also the birth of new possible applications linked to this technology. We could compare them to the old 56k modems - said Bacco - where internet browsing was slow and sometimes unnerving".
To overcome these limitations, the researchers tested quantum transmission for the first time on a new type of optical fiber called multi-core installed in the L'Aquila area during post-earthquake reconstruction work.
The tests indicated a two-fold improvement in the traditional transmission of qubits that could be adopted for future communications: "The possibility of increasing the rate of generation of cryptographic keys will allow us to broaden the audience of commercial users able to benefit from this technology", said Tommaso Occhipinti, CEO of QTI, the first Italian Quantum Key Distribution company.
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