QUNNECT, INC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 06b

Description

Quantum technologies, namely quantum computers and quantum communication networks, are becoming a reality. Some of the world’s biggest corporations have initiated research and development programs aimed to achieve quantum technological breakthroughs for real-life applications. It is predicted that these advanced quantum technologies will revolutionize science and information transfer. The main challenge to unlock the true potential of these quantum networks is to interconnect a large number of quantum devices without losses. We propose to investigate the feasibility and design of plug-&-play deployment-ready devices allowing the transfer of quantum information between flying photons and atoms at room temperature. These novel devices are useful for the construction of large long-distance correlated systems. We will benchmark a scalable prototype of this technology and make it suitable for immediate applications in quantum communication, entanglement distribution over large distances, and in high-energy physics, cosmology, and astrophysics for detections at the sensitivity frontier. The main deliverable of this project will be the engineering of a state-of-the-art, deployment-ready quantum memory based on room-temperature atomic ensembles. This is an original technology that we have used to demonstrate efficient writing, reading, and processing of flying quantum bits of information using atoms in the easiest way possible. The promise of our invention is vast as we have already tested its compatibility with relevant quantum protected cryptography protocols and quantum-enhanced information amplification schemes. This has the potential to revolutionize current digital communication technology by becoming the backbone of the world’s first fully secure long-distance communication network.