Commercializing Quantum Keys

Author

Moore, S.K.

Volume

44

Issue

3

fYear

2007

fDate

3/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

15

Lastpage

17

Abstract

Several firms, including ID Quantique, MagiQ, and SmartQuantum, are working on turning the esoteric quantum properties of light into money. These firms are trying to sell a way of distributing a cryptographic key that is theoretically theft-proof because it relies on the quirky quantum physics of photons. Such a quantum key distribution system could allow entities with secrets to encode and decode their data for transmission over optical fiber. Quantum key distribution lets two computers generate a key between them by taking advantage of a quantum property of photon. A quantum key can be generated by transmitting a series of bits encoded using one or a few photons per bit and two types of polarization filters

Keywords

photons; quantum cryptography; ID Quantique; MagiQ; SmartQuantum; commercialization; cryptographic key; data decoding; data encoding; encryptor; esoteric quantum properties; off-the-shelf distribution technology; optical fiber transmission; photon; polarization filters; quantum keys; quantum physics; Commercialization; Cryptography; Decoding; Distributed computing; Optical computing; Optical fibers; Physics; Quantum computing; Quantum mechanics; Turning;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Spectrum, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9235

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MSPEC.2007.323419

Filename

4119212