The team, led by Professor Marco Lucamarini from the University of York, ran a series of experiments using euNetworks’ subsea cable, called Rockabill which connects Ireland to England spannning 224km in length between Portrane and Southport cable landing stations without amplification or a repeating system.
“euNetworks is proud to support a critical project that pushes the boundaries of quantum technology and has implications for the future of network security,” said Paula Cogan, chief executive officer of euNetworks.
“The successful integration of quantum technology over commercial-grade optical fibre infrastructure at this distance is an exciting step forward.”
The milestone is an industry first with no quantum link having been established between the two countries, nor on a distance of length on a subsea fibre optic cable.
Quantum communication operates on the principle that particles of light can transmit data along optical cables in a highly fragile state. But the particles collapse if interfered with by someone trying to manipulate or steal private data, such as bank information, in transit.
“Many large companies and organisations are interested in quantum communications to secure their data, but it has limitations, particularly the distance it can travel,” said Professor Marco Lucamarini.
“The longer the distance, the more likely it is that the photon - the particles of light that we use as carriers of quantum information - are lost, absorbed or scattered in the channel, which reduces the chances of the information reaching its target.”
To overcome this obstacle, the pilot project was launched and Rockabill, as an ultra-low loss fibre optic subsea cable with low latency and low average attenuation created the ideal environment for the project.
The tests resulted in the successful transportation of single and entangled photons, as well as in the successful measurement of the optical phase exploited in twin-field and continuous-variable quantum key distribution (QKD).
This was largely due to highly sensitive detectors deployed at the Southport endpoint of the cable to reduce environmental noise levels.
The research further develops the use of QKD, the next frontier of data encryption technology which has the potential to deliver advanced levels of network security.
“This is a truly exciting step forward in realising the full potential of quantum communications and for the future of securing private data in an environment that is shaping the so-called ‘quantum internet’,” added Professor Lucamarini.
“This project also advances the real-world integration of quantum communication technology into existing global telecommunications and network infrastructure – taking it out of the lab into a ‘real-world’ scenario.”
Funded by the EPSRC Quantum Communications Hub, additional experiments will need to be carried out Rockabill to test the integration of services offered by quantum technologies into standard communications.
