Ground-to-satellite quantum teleportation

Abstract

An arbitrary unknown quantum state cannot be precisely measured or perfectly replicated. However, quantum teleportation allows faithful transfer of unknown quantum states from one object to another over long distance, without physical travelling of the object itself. Long-distance teleportation has been recognized as a fundamental element in protocols such as large-scale quantum networks and distributed quantum computation. However, the previous teleportation experiments between distant locations were limited to a distance on the order of 100 kilometers, due to photon loss in optical fibres or terrestrial free-space channels. An outstanding open challenge for a global-scale "quantum internet" is to significantly extend the range for teleportation. A promising solution to this problem is exploiting satellite platform and space-based link, which can conveniently connect two remote points on the Earth with greatly reduced channel loss because most of the photons' propagation path is in empty space. Here, we report the first quantum teleportation of independent single-photon qubits from a ground observatory to a low Earth orbit satellite - through an up-link channel - with a distance up to 1400 km. To optimize the link efficiency and overcome the atmospheric turbulence in the up-link, a series of techniques are developed, including a compact ultra-bright source of multi-photon entanglement, narrow beam divergence, high-bandwidth and high-accuracy acquiring, pointing, and tracking (APT). We demonstrate successful quantum teleportation for six input states in mutually unbiased bases with an average fidelity of 0.80+/-0.01, well above the classical limit. This work establishes the first ground-to-satellite up-link for faithful and ultra-long-distance quantum teleportation, an essential step toward global-scale quantum internet.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure

Chinese Academy of Sciences’ recent activities in boosting Chinese planetary science research

“…Such strong national fund support and increased focus on basic science has resulted in significant scientific results, as was expected. For example, the data collected by space science satellites in the first stage of the Strategic Priority Program on Space Science such as Dark Matter Particle Explorer, Quantum Experiments at Space Scale, Hard X‐Ray Modulation Telescope, ShiJian‐10 Recoverable Satellite, etc., have facilitated notable ground‐breaking scientific achievements (DAMPE Collaboration, ; Yin J et al, ; Liao SK et al, ; Ren JG et al, ).…”

Maximize the impacts of space science

“…For example, the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS, or Micius) satellite was launched in 2016 to test quantum encryption and teleportation technologies over long distances 7 . It is already considered a success on the basis of three papers in the journals Nature 8,9 and Science 7 . Where collaboration is the main objective, more publications might be desirable.…”

Future of Rural Transit

“…It's generally defined as the transfer of matter or energy from one location to the other without travelling through the physical space. China has recently teleported a photon from ground to orbit (Ren et al 2017). Current efforts focus on creating unhackable communication networks.…”