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Experimental Study of a Quantum Channel from a LEO Satellite to the Earth

Paolo Villoresi, C. Barbieri, Thomas D. Jennewein, F. Tamburini, M. Aspelmeyer, Cristian Bonato, Rupert Ursin, Claudio Pernechele, Luceri, G. Bianco, Anton Zeilinger

Published Jan 1, 2008• 1 citation
OpenAlex

Abstract

The single-photon exchange between a satellite and an Earth-based station has been investigated using satellite-laser-ranging retroreflectors in orbit. A return rate of 5 photons-per-second was measured from satellite Ajisai at 1650 km from the observer.

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Extending quantum communication to space environments would enable us to perform fundamental experiments on quantum physics as well as applications of quantum information at planetary and interplanetary scales. Here, we report on the first experimental study of the conditions for the implementation of the single-photon exchange between a satellite and an Earth-based station. We built an experiment that mimics a single photon source on a satellite, exploiting the telescope at the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory of the Italian Space Agency to detect the transmitted photons. Weak laser pulses, emitted by the ground-based station, are directed toward a satellite equipped with cube-corner retroreflectors. These reflect a small portion of the pulse, with an average of less-than-one photon per pulse directed to our receiver, as required for faint-pulse quantum communication. We were able to detect returns from satellite Ajisai, a low-Earth orbit geodetic satellite, whose orbit has a perigee height of 1485 km.
We report on several experiments of single photon transmission from space to ground realized at the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory (MLRO) of the Italian Space Agency in Matera (Italy). We simulated a source of coherent pulses attenuated to the single photon level by exploiting laser ranging satellites equipped with corner-cube retroreflectors (CCRs). By such technique we report QC with qubits encoded in polarization from low-Earth-orbit (LEO) at distance up to 2500km from the ground station, achieving a low quantum bit error ratio (QBER) for different satellites. The same technique is exploited to demonstrate single photon exchange with a medium-Earth-orbit (MEO) satellite, Lageos-2 at more than 7000 km of distance from the MLRO station. In both experiments the temporal jitter of the received counts is of the order of 1.2ns FWHM due to the intrinsic jitter of the single photon detectors. In order to improve the discrimination of signal from the background and reaching distances corresponding to GEO satellites, we improved the detection scheme by using fast single photon detectors with 40 ps FWHM jitter. We report improved single photon detection jitter from Beacon-C and Ajisai, obtaining 340 ps FWHM in the best case.
Extending the single-photon transmission distance is a basic requirement for the implementation of quantum communication on a global scale. In this work we report the single-photon exchange from a medium Earth orbit satellite (MEO) at more than 7000km7000\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\text{km}7000km of slant distance to the ground station at the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory. The single-photon transmitter was realized by exploiting the corner cube retroreflectors mounted on the LAGEOS-2 satellite. Long duration of data collection is possible with such altitude, up to 43 min in a single passage. The mean number of photons per pulse (${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{sat}}$) has been limited to 1 for 200 s, resulting in an average detection rate of 3.0counts/s3.0\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\text{counts}/\text{s}3.0counts/s and a signal-to-noise ratio of 1.5. The feasibility of single-photon exchange from MEO satellites paves the way to tests of quantum mechanics in moving frames and to global quantum Information.
The purpose of this project is to improve the techniques of Quantum Cryptography, to realize a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) in free space with an orbiting satellite using nowadays technology. With this experiment we characterize the properties of a single photon communication channel from an orbiting satellite in space to a ground based station. We used the facilities of the ASI laser ranging station MLRO (Matera) and the satellite for geodesy Lageos I, equipped with corner-cube retroreflectors, to simulate a single photon transmission from an orbiting satellite.
Abstract Satellite-based quantum communication (QC) is an invaluable resource for the realization of a quantum network at the global scale. In this regard, the use of satellites well beyond the low Earth orbit gives the advantage of long communication time with a ground station. However, high-orbit satellites pose a great technological challenge due to the high diffraction losses of the optical channel, and the experimental investigation of such quantum channels is still lacking. Here, we report on the first experimental exchange of single photons from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) at a slant distance of 20 000 km, by exploiting the retroreflector array mounted on GLONASS satellites. We also observed the predicted temporal spread of the reflected pulses due to the geometrical shape of the array. Finally, we estimated the requirements needed for an active source on a GNSS satellite, aiming towards QC from GNSS with state-of-the-art technology.