Quantum-limited measurements of optical signals from a geostationary satellite (original) (raw)
ADS
;
- Khan, Imran ;
- Elser, Dominique ;
- Stiller, Birgit ;
- Bayraktar, Ömer ;
- Müller, Christian R. ;
- Saucke, Karen ;
- Tröndle, Daniel ;
- Heine, Frank ;
- Seel, Stefan ;
- Greulich, Peter ;
- Zech, Herwig ;
- Gütlich, Björn ;
- Philipp-May, Sabine ;
- Marquardt, Christoph ;
- Leuchs, Gerd
Abstract
The measurement of quantum signals that traveled through long distances is of fundamental and technological interest. We present quantum-limited coherent measurements of optical signals, sent from a satellite in geostationary Earth orbit to an optical ground station. We bound the excess noise that the quantum states could have acquired after having propagated 38600 km through Earth's gravitational potential as well as its turbulent atmosphere. Our results indicate that quantum communication is feasible in principle in such a scenario, highlighting the possibility of a global quantum key distribution network for secure communication.
Publication:
Optica
Pub Date:
June 2017
DOI:
arXiv:
Bibcode:
Keywords:
- Quantum Physics;
- Computer Science - Cryptography and Security;
- Computer Science - Emerging Technologies;
- Physics - Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics;
- Physics - Optics
E-Print:
8 pages (4 pages main article, 4 pages supplementary material), 9 figures (4 figures main article, 5 figures supplementary material), Kevin G\"unthner and Imran Khan contributed equally to this work