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A bright future for quantum communications

Nature Photonics volume 3, pages 671–673 (2009)Cite this article

Quantum information protocols based on continuous-variable entangled states are attractive because they exploit standard optical modulation and measurement equipment, and do not require single photons. Recent progress in the field is reversing initial concerns about the practicality of the approach.

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Figure 1: A continuous-variable optical quantum information experiment at the Australian National University.
Figure 2: Typical schematic of a coherent-state quantum key distribution system.
Figure 3: Phase-space diagrams showing the sending of a quantum state from Alice to Bob.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Timothy C. Ralph is in the Department of Physics, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Queensland, Australia ralph@physics.uq.edu.au,

    Timothy C. Ralph

  2. Ping K. Lam is in the Department of Quantum Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. ping.lam@anu.edu.au,

    Ping K. Lam

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  1. Timothy C. Ralph
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  2. Ping K. Lam
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Ralph, T., Lam, P. A bright future for quantum communications. Nature Photon 3, 671–673 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2009.222

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