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Quantum Engineering

Transmission of photonic polarization states from geosynchronous Earth orbit satellite to the ground

Xuefeng Wang, Xiao‐jie Sun, Yuanxing Liu, Wei Wang, Bao‐xi Kan, Peng Dong, Lin‐lin Zhao

Published Jun 26, 2021• 37 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) satellites can extend the transmission distance of the quantum states and the intercrossing time between the satellites and the ground, which will greatly promote the application spatial scale of quantum communications. In this work we report the first experimental test of transmission of photonic polarization states from a GEO SJ-20 satellite at more than 36,000 km distance to the Li-jiang ground station at Yun-nan Observatory. The test equipment carried on the satellite can send four kinds of photonic polarization states at 50 MHz pulse frequency. A 1.76 m telescope and related optical system in the ground station are used to receive the photonic polarization states, and then these polarization states are probed by the superconducting nanowire single photon detector. The test results show that the optical attenuation between the GEO satellite and the ground station is 100 ˜ 110 dB and the channel bit error rate is 2%–8%, which meet the security criteria of quantum key distribution and quantum secure direct communication.

DOI
10.1002/que2.73

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Geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) satellites can extend the transmission distance of the quantum states and the intercrossing time between the satellites and the ground, which will greatly promote the application spatial scale of quantum communications. In this work we report the first experimental test of transmission of photonic polarization states from a GEO SJ-20 satellite at more than 36,000 km distance to the Li-jiang ground station at Yun-nan Observatory. The test equipment carried on the satellite can send four kinds of photonic polarization states at 50 MHz pulse frequency. A 1.76 m telescope and related optical system in the ground station are used to receive the photonic polarization states, and then these polarization states are probed by the superconducting nanowire single photon detector. The test results show that the optical attenuation between the GEO satellite and the ground station is 100 ˜ 110 dB and the channel bit error rate is 2%–8%, which meet the security criteria of quantum key distribution and quantum secure direct communication.
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.
Free-space quantum communication with satellites opens a promising avenue for global secure quantum network and large-scale test of quantum foundations. Recently, numerous experimental efforts have been carried out towards this ambitious goal. However, one essential step--transmitting single photons from the satellite to the ground with high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at realistic environments--remains experimental challenging. Here, we report a direct experimental demonstration of the satellite-ground transmission of a quasi-single-photon source. In the experiment, single photons (~0.85 photon per pulse) are generated by reflecting weak laser pulses back to earth with a cube-corner retro-reflector on the satellite CHAMP, collected by a 600-mm diameter telescope at the ground station, and finally detected by single-photon counting modules after 400-km free-space link transmission. With the help of high accuracy time synchronization, narrow receiver field-of-view and high-repetition-rate pulses (76 MHz), a SNR of better than 16:1 is obtained, which is sufficient for a secure quantum key distribution. Our experimental results represent an important step towards satellite-ground quantum communication.
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 entanglement-based quantum key distribution between a low-Earth-orbit satellite equipped with a space borne entangled-photon source and a ground observatory. One of the entangled photons is measured locally at the satellite, and the other one is sent via a down link to the receiver in the Delingha ground station. The link attenuation is measured to vary from 29 dB at 530 km to 36 dB at 1000 km. We observe that the two-photon entanglement survives after being distributed between the satellite and the ground, with a measured state fidelity of ≥0.86. We then perform the entanglement-based quantum key distribution protocol and obtain an average final key rate of 3.5 bits/s at the distance range of 530-1000 km.
Satellite quantum communications have received a surge of interest in recent years, encouraged by the success of the QUESS experiments and as a reaction to advances in quantum computing. This work focuses on low Earth orbit nanosatellite missions, which offer several benefits (e.g. lower costs, greater launch availability, easier to replenish) over satellites at different orbit heights (medium Earth orbit, geosynchronous Earth orbit) and satellite size classes (e.g. small-sats, etc). Recent work on low Earth orbit satellite Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) has focused on transmitters and quantum sources, with less attention paid to the receiver side of the link. This review addresses that imbalance by focusing on the receiver and detection systems of satellite quantum communications. This work has found that two-way beacon acquisition and tracking systems are both a common element of state-of-the-art missions, and likely to remain a critical subsystem to ensure high-quality satellite-to-ground station links; however, improvements to detection and tracking algorithms could be made. For discrete variable QKD, receivers and detection systems in nanosatellites at low Earth orbit are likely to remain using silicon single photon avalanche diodes, while receivers and detection systems in optical ground stations may opt for superconducting nanowire single photon detectors, as cryogenic cooling is feasible. For continuous variable QKD, the receivers and detection systems, using coherent detection systems, share many hardware elements with classical optical satellite communications. Combined with coherent detection systems’ inherent resilience to operating during daytime conditions, this makes continuous variable QKD an attractive prospect for future missions, if its fundamental challenges can be overcome.