CEA-Leti to Build a Quantum-Photonics Platform to Secure Data Transmission

By CIOReview | Tuesday, November 17, 2020

CEA-Leti announced plans to develop a quantum-photonics platform to build a next-generation technology for important industries that need ultra-secure data transmission.

FREMONT, CA: CEA-Leti announces plans to develop a quantum-photonics platform to build a next-generation technology for important industries that need ultra-secure data transmission. Quantum technology is likely to offer unconditional safe data encryption necessary for finance, health care, energy, telecommunications, defense, and other crucial industries and sectors.

It was established by Carnot, a French multidisciplinary network that follows R&D, which can be advantageous for society. The project will be developed on CEA-Leti's silicon-photonics platform complemented with new quantum characterization equipment for designing, processing, and testing quantum-photonic integrated components circuits. The institute uses photons to create quantum bits, or qubits, which are the best physical means for quantum communications.

The three-year project will produce silicon-photonics circuits that can make single photons, manipulate those photons with linear optical components like slow and rapid phase shifters and distinguish them with superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPD). The project will develop demonstrators for transmitting and receiving information in a quantum-based system to deliver quantum technology's promise for ultra-secure cryptography. For example, the demonstrators will understand an integrated qubit transmitter as a circuit that generates single photons and entangling them. A combined qubit receiver will be developed for detecting the photons.

"Almost daily, we read about breaches of standard cryptography protocols, with major financial-loss and security-risk implications, and the threat to critical infrastructure, such as power-supply systems," said S©gol¨ne Olivier, R&D project leader at CEA-Leti and coordinator of this project. "With the future advent of quantum computers, the risk will drastically increase as current encryption algorithms will not be safe anymore. Quantum cryptography is the solution to this problem as it is not vulnerable to computing power."

"Carnot's long and fruitful scientific relationship with CEA-Leti has helped bring many innovative solutions and products to companies and consumers in Europe and around the world," said Susanna Bonnetier, vice president of the Carnot network. "It's silicon-photonics platform is a very promising platform for developing quantum-communication links that will extend this legacy by protecting highly sensitive corporate, government, and personal information.