China achieves tamper-proof quantum communication over 100km with single atoms
Physicist Pan Jianwei and his team said their study helped to close the gap between the experimental and real-world applications
The researchers created quantum links between the atoms using single light particles, or photons. By comparing the atoms’ states at each end, the team generated identical strings of 0s and 1s – a shared secret key for encryption.
What sets the experiment apart is that the approach, known as device-independent quantum key distribution (DI-QKD), would still work securely even if the devices were flawed or had been tampered with.
The method derives its security from the quantum-mechanical behaviour of the entangled atoms, protecting against the real-world vulnerabilities that have long challenged quantum communication systems.
DI-QKD had previously only been demonstrated over short distances in the laboratory, the researchers wrote, adding that their study helped to “close the gap between proof-of-principle experiments and real-world applications”.