CSIR contributes to quantum comms development
29 January 2014
News
Scientists from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) contributed to a recent development effort conducted jointly by researchers from South Africa, Canada and Scotland, to improve security and boost information capacity in quantum communication systems, using the twisted nature of photons to access quantum states in five dimensions for secure quantum key distribution (QKD).
Conventionally QKD is implemented with the polarisation states of light, allowing access to only two dimensions and thus limiting the information that can be packed into each photon, as well as the security of the QKD process. In contrast, the spatial modes of photons allow access to many states, increasing the dimensions available for QKD. One such example is the twisted nature of light, its orbital angular momentum.
Following their recent work on encoding higher-dimensional, mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) from orbital angular momentum, the research team, which includes the CSIR’s Prof Andrew Forbes and Dr Angela Dudley, used holograms written to liquid crystal devices (spatial light modulators) to demonstrate an entanglement-based QKD protocol in five dimensions.
MUBs offer security against eavesdropping, while the higher dimensions lead to an increase in information capacity and higher key generation rates per photon. According to the researchers, these results suggest a way forward for faster and more secure quantum communications systems.
Further reading:
Technical resource centre for smart cities
News
Mouser’s infrastructure and smart cities content hub features comprehensive articles, blogs, eBooks, and products from Mouser’s technical team and trusted manufacturing partners.
Read more...
UFS Flash named Best in Show
EBV Electrolink
News
KIOXIA Europe GmbH was named as winner in the Memory & Storage category of the Embedded Computing Design (ECD) electronica Best in Show Awards at the recently held electronica 2024.
Read more...
Save the date for Securex South Africa 2025
News
Home to Africa’s largest collection of security solutions, Securex South Africa returns to Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand from 3 to 5 June 2025.
Read more...
Trina Storage ranked in top 10
News
Amidst the global energy storage market, Trina Storage has once again earned recognition from authoritative institutions with its outstanding innovation capabilities and global layout.
Read more...
2025 outlook for DRAM is poor
News
According to TrendForce, weak demand outlook and rising inventory and supply forecast to pressure DRAM prices down for 2025.
Read more...
Price hike to challenge energy reforms
News
Eskom’s proposed 44% price hike could undermine renewable energy gains despite tech innovation.
Read more...
IO Ninja debugging tool
RF Design
News
Tibbo has released a major update to IO Ninja, its versatile communications debugging tool for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Read more...
Young SA robotics team takes world title
News
In a demonstration of innovation and teamwork, Texpand, a South African youth robotics team based in Cape Town, recently made history by winning the 2024 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championships.
Read more...
From the editor's desk: A brave new world
Technews Publishing
News
The technology Tesla currently uses in its cars from the batteries, power electronics, controllers, through to the mechanics, gearboxes, and the AI inference computer and software have are incorporated in the development of Optimus, allowing the development of the robot to gain impressive features in a relatively short time span.
Read more...
Seven Labs partnership enhances local electronics distribution
Seven Labs Technology
News
Aimed at revolutionising the electronics distribution landscape in South Africa, Seven Labs has announced a partnership with LCSC, one of China’s most reputable electronics distributors.
Read more...
printer friendly version