论文标题
基于太空量子密钥分布的立方体平台
A CubeSat platform for space based quantum key distribution
论文作者
论文摘要
卫星节点是通过克服地面纤维和自由空间链路的距离限制，是全球量子网络的推动者。但是，卫星的量子源和接收器的设计在尺寸，重量和功耗方面以及机械和热稳定性方面都具有挑战性。对于诸如流行的Cubesat平台标准等成本效益的纳米卫星，这更为正确。 在这里，我们报告了Spooqy-1的后续任务，Spooqy-1是一个3U立方体，成功地证明了轨道上具有极化的光子的产生。该任务的下一个迭代将基于卫星到地面量子密钥分布，基于偏振符号光子对的紧凑源，我们最近完成了将功能齐全的演示器集成为飞行模型的里程碑。 我们还简要描述了目前在新加坡建造的光学接地站的设计，用于接收量子信号。我们介绍了最重要的子系统，并说明了操作的概念。
Satellite nodes are an enabler of global quantum networks by overcoming the distance limitations of fiber and free-space links on ground. The design of quantum sources and receivers for satellites, however, is challenging in terms of size, weight, and power consumption, as well as mechanical and thermal stability. This is all the more true for cost-efficient nanosatellites such as the popular CubeSat platform standard. Here we report on the follow-up mission of SpooQy-1, a 3U CubeSat that successfully demonstrated the generation of polarization-entangled photons in orbit. The next iteration of the mission will showcase satellite-to-ground quantum key distribution based on a compact source of polarization-entangled photon-pairs, and we have recently completed the integration of a fully functional demonstrator as a milestone towards the flight model. We also briefly describe the design of the optical ground station that we are currently building in Singapore for receiving the quantum signal. We present the most important subsystems and illustrate the concept of operation.
